Whare Potae (The House of Mourning)
by slaughterliterary
Summary: Part One of the Purakau stories. Moana, now the new Chief of Motunui, rushes off to rescue Maui from the clutches of the goddess of death in the face of another crisis on her island. In the process, she discovers a few unexpected things about the Demigod of the Land and Sea which make him seem far more human than she'd ever expected. (Cover image by Tabakerko.)
1. Prologue

Author's Note:

I am reasonably new to Maori culture, but I'm going to do my best to work it into this story as respectfully and accurately as possible, while still keeping to the sort of fantasy world that Disney has created. I will inevitably make mistakes, and for that I beg your patience in advance. I'm learning, and if you know something that I don't, I'd love for you to teach me!

Thank you so much, and I hope you enjoy the story.

* * *

 **Whare Potae**

 _The House of Mourning_

 **By Mercy Slaughter**

 **Prologue**

* * *

The sea had always been Moana's friend, until one day, with the capricious nature of the elements, it betrayed her.

Chief Moana of Motunui was down by the docks, watching the fisherman haul in that day's catch with proud smiles on their faces, all singing their sea-songs and grunting to show how heavy and impressive their burdens were, when she heard the cries.

Tipene, young wife of one of the fisherman, came rushing up the beach holding her baby in her arms and screaming. The poor woman wasn't even crying any more, she was just screaming wordlessly and shaking all over, clutching the body of her one-year-old daughter against her chest. Moana knew before she looked that the baby was dead; drowned in the surf, most likely.

This was the third time this week that a child had gotten too close to the water with disastrous consequences.

Late that night, while the other women were all clustered around in Tipene's home, comforting her and preparing for mourning, Moana went down to the sea alone and watched the waves for a while.

"I don't get it," she muttered, shaking her head. "Where did we go wrong? Why have you done this to us? Have I...I don't know, offended you, or upset you, or something? How am I supposed to know what to do if you won't talk to me? I mean...well, not talk to me, but...I don't know, give me a sign, or something? What is it you're trying to tell me?"

Moana was a new chief, and had only been formally leading her people for a few months. Her father had stepped down due to some acute pains and trouble walking; the result of an old injury he'd sustained during an accident several years ago. Now, he served in Moana's old role; adviser to the people of Motunui, and Moana's second-in-command.

The sea, which had once been so playful and talkative in it's own way, lay still, calm, and dark.

After checking to make sure that no one else was around, Moana sat down on the beach and shed a few angry tears of her own.

When she finally looked up a few moments later, the glistening shape of a manta ray was gliding across the surface of the water. It was only there for an instant, sparkling and then gone as quickly as it had come, but in it's wake, Moana wondered aloud to herself, "Grandma?"

The next morning, Moana hurried to the home of the village Tohunga, the priestess, who served as the wise woman and medium who could make spiritual requests. With her mother and father at her side, Moana sat on the floor and listened to the Tohunga and her two sons play the music of the taonga puoro, the flutes, trumpets and drums that served to open a channel between the mortals and the gods.

As the music played, Moana sat back, closed her eyes, and listened to the voices inside her; voices which grew louder and more insistent as the music intensified all around her. Several people in Moana's head were screaming, crying, and then she could see a shadow in her mind's eye; the shadow of a tall, slender woman with long, dark hair. The shadow was laughing a low, dark, mirthless laugh, a laugh that sent chills down Moana's spine.

Then, suddenly, Moana could her her grandmother's voice speaking, and she listened to the story that her grandmother, in her heart, was trying to tell her.

"Far across the sea," whispered her grandmother, "and far below the ground, deep in the land of Rarohenga dwells the goddess of death, Hine-nui-te-po, the keeper of the souls of the dead. Once, she was content only to guard and guide the spirits of those who have passed, but now she is angry, furious because a trickster demigod, a self-styled hero has crept into her world and has stolen her heart!"

Moana groaned. "Wait...really? Again? He's stolen _another_ heart? You can't...you can't be serious. No way, I don't believe wouldn't do that. I mean, he wouldn't do it _again_ , anywy; not after what happened last time!"

Moana's grandmother paused for a moment as the music slowed.

"Well," admitted her grandmother, in a slightly less terrible tone of voice, "when I say "he stole her heart," to be honest I am speaking...figuratively, this time. Nothing was actually stolen, as it were. What I mean is, Hine-nui-te-po's got a crush on him. Heehee…"

Grandmother laughed, and Moana's mouth fell open in shock. She had to force herself to keep her eyes tightly shut so as not to lose track of the vision.

"Wait," mumbled Moana, "so, let me get this straight. The goddess of death has a...a thing for _Maui?"_ Moana was having a hard time picturing it. I mean, sure, she thought, he was a great guy, in his own way, but...somehow, she just didn't' see him as heartthrob material.

"I"m afraid so," sighed Grandmother, as Maui's shadow appeared in Moana's vision. "Love can be a terrible thing at its strongest, Moana. When Maui refused the attentions of the goddess of death, she flew into a rage and has trapped him deep in Rarohenga; a land from which not even he could ever escape. She will destroy everything she can reach, tainting even the sea itself with her fury, until Maui agrees to accept her as his wife. If he does not, she will continue to rage, no doubt killing Maui himself in her great temper, which will only further incite her to grief and destruction."

"Maui…" Moana bit her lip, and watched the shadow of her former traveling companion fading slowly out of her mind's eye as her grandmother's voice receded into nothing, along with the sounds of the drums and flutes. The last thing Moana saw before she opened her eyes was Maui's form chained with head bowed in the midst of an endless darkness, while the sounds of terribly,angry laughter echoed all twisted hard in Moana's chest, and she started to reach out to him, but, almost immediately, the vision was gone.

When Moana opened her eyes again, the music had stopped. Her mother, her father, the Tohunga and her sons were all staring expectantly at Moana's face, waiting for judgment from their intrepid Chief.

Moana sighed.

"I...I gotta go," she mumbled, scrambling to her feet. "Sorry, this is kinda last minute, but I could use some help packing. I've been really busy for the past few days...I am fresh out of food. Can anybody spare me some fruit? A few coconuts? Oh, and I'm going to need the new canoe, because this might take a while, and I'm not uh, actually sure where I'm going. This is probably going to sound like a stupid question, but I don't suppose anyone's ever actually been to Rarohenga?"

She grinned sheepishly at the blank looks on all of their faces, then shook her head.

"Uh yeah...silly thing to ask, right? N-nevermind."

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Ooh, that was fun! I haven't written fanfiction in a really long time. I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed it.

If you're interested in reading the rest of this story, I'd absolutely love it if you'd drop me a quick note to let me know. Thank you so much for taking the time!


	2. Chapter One

**Author's Note:** I meant to update last night, but I ended up having a pretty rough evening. I co-own a small community theater company in Philly, and we closed a really successful show last night, which was fantastic. We were all celebrating at a bar near my house when my brain injury started acting up (it does that when I overdo, and if any of you are in theater, you know that it's pretty much all about overdoing). I ended up in bed with a throbbing migraine and only partial vision in both eyes by ten o'clock. I spent the time trying to read through all your nice comments and messages on my phone. Thanks so much to everyone who took the time to leave a note or a thought about the story; that was lovely of you, and you really improved what ended up being an otherwise painful and stressful night. Please forgive me if there are any typos in any of the responses I wrote to you.

But enough of that, let's have some more story. :)

* * *

 **Chapter One**

A few hours later, Moana rushed down to her canoe with a sack of provisions slung over her shoulder, generously donated by well-wishers from the village. She was surprised to find Heihei sitting in the prow of the boat, pecking industriously at the wood and making frustrated little clucking noises every time the canoe failed to be edible.

"Heihei…" Moana gently picked the chicken up and deposited him on the beach, turning him in the direction of the island and giving him a little push. "Sorry, but you're not coming. Nothing personal, okay? You're just probably better off on the island where fewer things are going to try and eat you."

Heihei, apparently unperturbed by Moana's lack of confidence in his seafaring skills, wandered off towards the village. Moana smiled, turned back to her canoe, and then heard the sound of a familiar crutch tap-tapping down the beach in her direction.

"Dad?" She turned around again to see her father, leaning on her grandmother's old crutch, making his way towards her across the sand. He had a dark, set look on his face; one that Moana knew all too well.

She sighed.

"Dad," she mumbled, "you can't talk me out of this, okay? I _have_ to go. It's my job, for our people, and-!"

"I know." Her father shook his head. "I'm not here to stop you, Moana…not this time."

He sank down on the sand, patting the place beside him. Hesitantly, Moana sat down where he indicated and watched his face. Shaking his head at her, he gave her a wry, soft sort of smile.

"What a chief you've become, my little minnow." He brushed her cheek with a finger, and Moana tried not to beam like the proud little kid she was inside, basking in the glow of her father's praise. "Running off to save your people…at whatever cost." His smile broadened. "Your mother and I always believed that you would do great things one day. I wish…I wish you'd never had to."

For a terrible moment, in the fading light, Moana thought her father looked much, much older than he ever had before, which was, of course, ridiculous. He was still a young man, in comparison to so many of the village elders, but something about his face had grown so tired that she could hardly bear it.

"There are days, Moana, when I wish that you hadn't been born to be the chief of our people," he went on quietly. "It's a terrible burden that we've placed on you. There are so many moments when I wish you'd been destined for something gentler, something that could have kept you safe, at home, where we could protect you. The sea has already taken three of Motunui's children this year, Moana. Please…don't let it take my daughter as well."

He looked up at her with that resigned smile still in his eyes, and Moana felt a twinge of guilt and frustration in her chest. She glared out at the waves, trying to decide if it was her, the sea, or the gods that had begun to break her father's heart. Sickeningly aware that it was at least partially her fault, Moana bit her lip and wondered what, if anything, there was to say.

"My mother," her father went on, "knew all the stories of our people by heart, but some stories I forbid her to tell lest she frighten the children and encourage us all to have nightmares."

Moana chuckled. "She told them anyway," she reminded him. "I remember once, when I was little, grandma tried to tell us the story of Maui's theft of Te Fiti's heart, and you-"

"No she didn't," interrupted her father, holding up a hand. "Not all of them. There are some that even you never heard. The story of Rarohenga, for instance."

"Dad?" Moana stared. "You know something about it?"

Her father shrugged.

"I mean," Moana went on eagerly, "I know the basics, right? Rarohenga is the underworld; the place where the spirits of the dead go. It's supposed to be a terrible place, full of all the monsters that people have stopped believing in, in the mortal world, and-!"

"My mother always told me," interrupted her father, "that Rarohenga was a deceptively beautiful place...bright and full of lights of many colors. It's not a place for monsters, Moana; more like the ceatures of lore and legend that no one sees on earth anymore. Or, maybe, that's just what your grandmother liked to imagine."

Moana's widened. "Well...that doesn't sound so bad," she murmured.

Her father shook his head. "The story goes that the underworld of Rarohenga is ruled by the beautiful goddess Hine-nui-te-po, the woman whose rage against her father first brought death into the world. Her terrible power over mortals destroys everything it touches; no human can live long in her presence. Only one mortal man has ever looked upon Hine-nui-te-po and lived."

Moana swallowed hard.

Her father's voice had taken on a sort of singsong quality not unlike that of her late could almost hear her grandmother's tones in the way her father told the story. After all, she reminded herself, no doubt his mother had told him all sorts of stories, long even before Moana was born. There was a piece of grandma Tala in her father's heart as well, and that gave Moana some courage.

"You said that one mortal man had been to Rarohenga and lived," she reminded him. "Who?"

"It was the Great Chief Mataora," said her father. "He was summoned one day by the sisters of Hine-nui-te-po, and guided to Rarohenga under their care. They protected him from the goddess's wrath, and they gave him a gift; the gift of Ta Moko; the chiseled tattoo. They carved his face with their chisels, and only once he had bled enough and had understood their and their sister's pain was he permitted to leave and go about his mortal life. He brought one of the sisters with him, Niwareka, and together they began the tradition of the moko; the tattoos which we wear in our skin, which now remind us, for the briefest time, of the pain of death, but also of the life we have lived and of the place where we come from. Your grandmother told me that every soul and spirit of the dead was covered from head to toe in the moko; a tapestry of who they had been in life."

Moana looked down at her own bare arms and midriff, frowning thoughtfully to herself.

"So...if I'm going to sneak into Rarohenga," she mused aloud, "I'm not going to get in looking like this, right? I guess there isn't' any way I could get away with some really good body paint..."

 _I have no idea,_ she thought to herself, _how I'm even going to find Rarohenga. Aren't we maybe getting a little ahead of ourselves, here?_

"Your mother and I have been waiting for the right time to begin your moko," her father was saying. "Admittedly, we'd planned on waiting until you turned twenty-one, but...as Chief of our people, you really should have started on them some years ago."

Moana thought of chisels, and of poor Chief Mataora with his face bleeding from a dozen wounds as the sisters of Hine-nui-te-po looked on and smiled their terrible smiles.

"Yup," she sighed. "You're absolutely right, Dad; that is definitely a nightmare-inducing story. Good thing I probably won't need to sleep for a while. A real wayfinder never sleeps, or so they say. Ha...haha…"

Moana's father got to his feet.

"I'll go with you," he told her.

Moana nodded and winced. "This is gonna hurt a lot, right? No, you know what, don't answer that. It's probably fine. Yeah. It's not like I haven't seen it done a hundred times. Piece...piece of cake."

She sucked in a deep breath, and followed her father as he headed back towards the village.

Behind her, the sea sparkled, treacherous and serene, dangerous and promising, as Moana hurried to meet the next little part of her fate.

* * *

 **Author's End Note:** I'm playing havok with Maori lore again.

This chapter was inspired quite a bit by my own father. I thought of him a lot while writing it. I remember years ago, when he told me that the hardest thing about parenting was loving too much, and that if you love someone, that means you're going to be afraid. I have to admit, I do sympathize quite a bit with Moana's Dad in the movie. Maybe it's just because I'm getting so damn old.

Next chapter, we're going to see more of Maui's side of the story. I'm looking forward to that. First, though, it's time for me to get some work done...


	3. Chapter Two

**Author's Note:** I am sneakily writing fanfiction at my desk while pretending to respond to customer complaints.

You won't tell, will you?

* * *

 **Chapter Two**

Meanwhile, Maui, demigod of the wind and sea, shapeshifter and hero to all was chained by his wrists to the shimmering wall of the goddesses's throne room in the depths of Rarohenga. His beloved fishhook hung a few feet above and to his left, just far enough away that he could see but never reach it, set up as a taunt, he was sure, by Hine-nui-te-po, who seemed to delight in watching him struggle.

The goddess herself was seated nearby on a throne made of sharp, dark wood, bathed in inexplicably black light from luminescent pockets in the walls all around. Her long black, lank hair swathed her entire body, and she gazed curiously at Maui out of deeply sunken, striking eyes.

Maui sighed.

"Look, beautiful," he insisted, "I'm flattered. I really am. Nah, I'm even impressed! I mean you're a real go-getter, and I like that about you. There's nothing quite like a woman who isn't afraid to make a bold play for what she wants, and that's you to a T. I got a lot of respect for that, I really do, it's just….I'm not really on the market for a relationship right now, you know? Maui's gotta be free to do his hero thing. I wouldn't really be Maui the trickster if I was tied down, even to a gorgeous goddess like yourself. I'm a rover, a free agent, a wandering world-saving force, so...I mean, I'm really sorry, honest, but it's just not meant to be. Nothing personal, though. You're a real catch, and I mean that. No hard feelings?"

Hine-nui-te-po stood up, frowning, and glided over to Maui, pointing a long finger at his chest.

"Who," she demanded, "is that?"

Maui looked down at the tattoo of Moana, the one he'd received after they'd restored the heart of Te Fiti together some years ago.

"Oh, uh, her? That's...that's nobody," he mumbled. "Just some kid I helped out, once upon a time. Saved her village, or something like that. You know me, Hine. I'm always out there, doing my best to help those damsels in distress."

Hine-nui-te-po raised a delicate eyebrow at Maui, and he just shrugged, turning his face away from her so that she couldn't read his eyes.

"That's mortals for you," he muttered. "Save their entire family from an all-devouring darkness, and they never even call you. Haven't heard from her in ages. Forget her, it's no big deal."

Honestly, Maui couldn't decide who he was trying to convince; Hine-nui-te-po, or himself.

The explanation apparently satisfied the goddess, however, who returned to her throne, leaving Maui alone with his unpleasant thoughts. The Mini Maui tattoo on Maui's chest gazed sadly up at him, shaking it's head.

"What?" Maui glared at the tattoo. "Hey, come on, don't look at me like that. It's not a big deal, okay? She's probably got more important, chiefly things to do, now. Running a village when you're barely out of puberty has gotta be time consuming, or...whatever. It's fine."

The Maui tattoo slumped over, looking even more miserable.

"Anyway," Maui went on, "it's probably for the est. Can you imagine what it'd be like if Moana was still hanging around all the time? She'd be all 'Maui, teach me how to run my village,' and 'Maui, steal something else from the gods so my people have more food,' and 'Maui, I'm the chosen one, so help me figure out how to make that work,' and on, and on...I mean, she's a nice kid, don't get me wrong, but Maui is nobody's mentor figure; not with hair this great, okay? I was just not born for that role. The girl's gotta stand on her own two feet, and we gotta stand on ours...uh, well, mine."

The Maui tattoo just shrugged.

"Mortals," murmured Hine-nui-te-po unexpectedly. "They're no use at all. Poor Maui, abandoned again and again by those terrible humans, and yet...you keep drifting back to them. Why is that?"

Getting to her feet, she strode over and knelt in front of him, reaching out to lift his chin between her two fingers. Maui winced and tried to turn his head away, but there was something powerful about those sunken eyes that locked his gaze and wouldn't release him.

"When will you learn" she sighed, "that you're so much better off here, with your people...as one of us? You're not a human, Maui. You were chosen by the gods. Why not accept it...learn to embrace it? Embrace your place with us. Here, amongst your own people, you'll be safe, and you'll never be harmed. You need never feel alone or abandoned again, demigod of the wind and sea. You belong here."

She twined her arms around his neck, but this time Maui coughed and shook her off, straightening himself up and turning his face to the wall to avoid her.

"Look," he muttered, "I appreciate that you're trying to be comforting, but I'm fine. Actually, I'm great. No still means no, by the way. I'll say it as many times as you need to hear it; I'm not interested."

Hine-nui-te-po hissed her displeasure, and Maui jerked back around just in time to see her on her standing over him with her sharp, dark fingernails outstretched, her face twisted with anger.

"Don't worry, little Maui," she sighed, the corners of her mouth twisting up into an unpleasant sort of half-grimace. "I'll take away your loneliness...even if it means that I must poison the seas between every island for hundreds of miles to punish those mortals for failing to appreciate who you are. Soon, you will understand...you don't need them anymore. You don't need anyone...no one but me. I'll cure your sadness. I can truly understand you."

 _Yeah, right,_ thought Maui. _You're so twisted, you're about as disconnected from reality as it gets. Guess living in a hole underground for about a million years will do that to you. Even the souls of the dead are more with it than you are. Can't imagine what you think we have in common._

Hine-nui-te-po eventually drifted away, shaking her head slowly.

"You'll understand soon," she told him over her shoulder, trying on a gentle smile that didn't suit the sharp contours of her face. It only made her look more ghastly than she had before. "Don't worry. Everything will be alright, Maui...I won't ever leave you. I promise. It would be terrible, after all, to spend eternity all alone."

She swept out of the room, off to join the dead in their daily travels through the underworld, and Maui took a deep breath.

"Talk about crazy ex-girlfriends," he muttered. "We sure know how to pick 'em, huh, buddy?"

His Maui tattoo just rolled its eyes.

* * *

 **Author's End Notes:**...welp, I got busted for writing instead of doing my work, so I had to put it away until I got home.

I'll get started on another chapter before I leave for work in the morning.

Anyway, this is a bit of a short chapter, but at least I got to write Maui's character a bit, and that's a lot of fun to do.


	4. Chapter Three

**Author's Note:** I got an unexpected evening to myself tonight. I got home earlier than usual from work and discovered that my husband had gone out to play Magic the Gathering with some friends. What's a poor, lonely newlywed to do but curl up in bed, turn on the Moana soundtrack and write some fanfiction? The only thing missing here is a glass of wine, but I've been fully sober for a year now, and so I'll have to make do with a hot chocolate instead.

* * *

And now, back to our story.

 **Chapter Three**

Three days later, her entire body aching and sore, Moana emerged from the Tohunga's home, led by her mother and leaning on her father's arm.

"Ow," she mumbled, wincing. "Ow, ow, ow ow ow ow _owwww._ I can't...ugh, even breathing is hard."

"It's...very unusual for someone to get several years' worth of moko all done in the same sitting," admitted her father, shaking his head and looking impressed.

Moana's mother laughed. "You are, without a doubt, your father's daughter, Moana. Neither of you do anything by halves."

Moana just groaned and straightened up as best she could, trying not think about the incredible pain in her everything.

"Right," she muttered. "Well, uh...assuming I can still sit up straight in the boat, I gotta get going. I've wasted too much time already. Ugh, maybe we should tie me to the mast, or something? My...my poor back."

The Tohunga, everyone had agreed, had done incredible work. Across Moana's back now stretched the sails of a great canoe, decorated with the shapes, stripes, and braided bands of her people, the same ones her father and his father before him had worn in their own tattoos. There were manta rays too, each with wings outstretched, swimming across both of Moana's shoulders; permanent reminders etched in her skin of her beloved grandmother, Tala.

Moana's face was, as of yet, mostly untouched, except for the stylistically chiseled fishhook that curved around the brow of her left eye. That tattoo was honestly the one of which Moana was the most proud. While the others were all links to her past, all signs of her connection to her family and her ancestors, the fishhook was for Moana alone; a reference to her own, individual identity, and a symbol of what she, Moana of Motunui, had given to her people.

It also stung so badly that her vision was blurry, which made her just a little nervous about trying to sail.

Several of the villagers of Motunui were already clustered around the beach when Moana arrived. They were carrying sacks of provisions and extra ropes, beaming encouragingly at their limping Chief as she made her way to the canoe.

Aware that she was center of all available attention, Moana plastered a confident, hearty smile on her face, trying not to look any of her people in the eye.

"Moana," murmured her mother, placing a hand on Moana's shoulder. "No one is going to force you to do this. If you don't' want to go, you don't have to. No one will think any less of you; certainly not me or your father. You've already had plenty of adventures for one lifetime. You don't have to force yourself to have any more."

Moana looked around at the happy villagers, comforted by their certainty that their Moana would save their island just the way she'd done before. As far as they were concerned, with Moana at the helm, everything was under control.

Then Moana thought of Maui, shackled to the walls of his underworld prison.

"Actually," she sighed, nodding to herself, "I...I do have to go. D-don't worry. I got this. Everything's going to be fine."

 _Nevermind that I have absolutely no idea how to get to Rarohenga,_ she thought desperately to herself, _or that I don't have a clue how I'm going to talk the goddess of the underworld out of taking her anger out on Maui AND all the surrounding islands once I do get there. Yeah, this is going to go great. Everything's absolutely under control. Sure._

"Okay," whispered her mother, leaning in close to Moana's ear. "But, in that case, try not to look as though you're panicking quite so much, hmmm?"

Moana blinked, looked up into her mother's eyes, and saw that same, unnecessarily bright, just slightly uncomfortable smile plastered on her mother's face; the same smile she knew she herself was wearing.

"Mom," said Moana. "I'm...I'm really sorry."

Moana's mother opened her mouth to reply, but her father just shook his head, holding up a hand to forestall whatever was about to be said.

"Never apologize," he murmured. "We are...so very proud of you, Moana of Motunui."

Moana reflected, as she stepped into the canoe and watched the aching hearts etched in her parents smiles, that love was something far more complicated and painful than maybe she'd ever realized before.

She kept watching and waving to them until the sea had taken her boat so far from the shore that all she could make out were their shapes, and those of her still-waving people, all lined up on the beach to see her off.

Night fell, and then daybreak came. Before Moana knew it, she was alone on the sea for the first time since she could remember. Even on that first voyage, when she'd risked everything to go searching for the demigod who could help her save the world, Heihei had been there to amuse her and to keep her company. Now, it was only her, and the night, and the water that was far, far too silent.

"Look," Moana mumbled to the sea, even if she couldn't be sure it was listening, "we're going to have to work together, here, okay? I know, you and I have been having a hard time getting along lately, and it sounds like maybe Hine-nui-te-po's got you in her corner, but think about it, seriously. How's that going to work out for you, in the long run? I mean, you like it when we humans sail to find new islands, don't you? Well, if she kills us all off because she's lovesick for Maui, who do you think is going to do the sailing? Right? Exactly. Nobody. So, I mean, it's in your best interests and mine for you to help me get where I'm going. I'll save Maui, we'll save the village, everything will go back to the way it was and you'll go back to being the calm, peaceful, non-lethal, non-murderous endless body of water that you used to be. Wasn't that more fun than being an instrument of death and destruction? I think so, right?"

The sea didn't respond, or even seem to have heard. Moana sighed.

"Honestly...I still can't get over the idea of anyone being 'lovesick for Maui.' Just saying that out loud sounds kinda weird," she admitted. "I mean, sure, okay, it's not like there's anything wrong with him. He's a hero, absolutely. He's a pretty nice guy, too, when you think about it, but…"

Moana tried to imagine the beautiful goddess of the dead fawning all over Maui, the same man who'd once tricked Moana into not following the current by relieving himself off the side of the boat while she'd dutifully dangled her hand in the water.

"Yeah," she said. "Yeah, I don't know. Maybe he's just not my type."

She wondered suddenly how long Maui had been trapped in Rarohenga, and realized with a pang of guilt that it could have been weeks, even months now since she'd seen her favorite giant hawk in the skies above her village.

"I...guess I didn't notice," she muttered to herself. "But I mean, it's not like it's my job to know where Maui is all the time. He can take care of himself just fine, right? He's been taking care of himself for thousands of years, except for that time when he stole the heart of Te Fiti and got trapped pretty much forever on an island in the middle of the sea, or the time when he almost got eaten by Tamatoa and I had to create a diversion to save him, and also the time when he almost got turned into a scorched patch of sand by Te Ka…"

Daydreaming about Maui and tracing her fingers in the water to locate the currents, Moana drifted along with the sea for a while, lost in thought.

"I...I really need to find him," she sighed eventually. "But how the heck am I supposed to find a mysterious underworld realm that not even my grandmother ever talked about? Is there an entrance on an island somewhere; one that humans aren't supposed to find, like the entrance to Lalotai? Maybe it's in a cave, or something; I mean, that would make sense. It's not like we have any landmarks, though, right? I mean...the only thing I know about Rarohenga is that…"

She trailed off, because something was happening to the sea all around her canoe. The sun was now glistening on the water, turning the waves into beautifully shimmering peaks and valleys that rose and fell in and out of the light and shadow.

"A deceptively beautiful place," Moana whispered to herself, remembering the story her father had told her about Chief Mataora and his trip to the underworld. "Bright...full of lights and many colors."

The sea beneath her swayed, swelling and almost seemed to nod at her before falling away again.

"I...I get it," gasped Moana. "No, I had it all wrong. Rarohenga isn't a world _under the ground._ It's a world _under the sea…_ "

As if in response to Moana's statement, the ocean suddenly surged up all around her, turning her boat gently until it pointed in the direction where Maui's fishhook had hung in the night sky only hours before.

"H-huh?" Moana wobbled a little bit, but managed to stay upright in the canoe. "That way? Great…thank you SO much. I appreciate it."

She struck out for the point that the ocean had indicated, relieved at having some kind of direction. She was only slightly disappointed that the ocean didn't seem to be interested in helping to propel her along as it had years ago. After all, Moana was now a renowned wayfinder in her own right. Naturally, she reminded herself, she didn't need any help sailing.

It was only that her arms ached terribly, and, if she was being honest with herself, she wouldn't have minded a chance to sit back and nap for a bit. She wouldn't have minded _at all…_ but she certainly wasn't going to admit that ,not even to the sea.

* * *

 **Author's End Note:**

…aaaand right on cue, David is home. Time to put my computer away and pretend I've been busy doing important things and not slacking off all night. Pleasant dreams, everyone, and thank you for reading!


	5. Chapter Four

**Author's Note:** I noticed this morning that there were several important lines missing from the end of the previous chapter. I must have done a shitty cut-and-paste job when I was uploading. Sorry about that!

The previous chapter, Chapter Three, is now up-to-date and correct. Please feel free to go back and read the new chapter ending, which will probably help this next chapter make just a little more sense. Thanks so much!

* * *

 **Chapter Four**

It had been so many years since Moana's original journey to Maui's island that she'd forgotten how long the trip took. The first time she'd gone, she'd been so busy trying to keep afloat and trying to prevent Heihei from drowning himself that the time had just flown by.

This time, the trip was much less eventful. There were, mercifully, no terrible storms, and no difficult chickens to keep trapped on the boat. Night fell without incident and the stars came out, revealing Maui's glittering fish hook in the sky and giving Moana a much clearer mark by which to steer her canoe.

If anything, the trip was just a little lonely. Moana's body still ached, but the pain had dulled significantly since she'd started out, and it had become much easier to take deep breaths and move her arms and shoulders. She hummed to herself as she sailed, songs of her people that the fishermen sang when setting out to haul in the morning's catch. The more she sang, the calmer the sea became, almost as if it enjoyed the music, until she found herself speeding along with the unbroken ocean current, Maui's thousand-year prison looming just on the horizon as the sun came back up and stars disappeared.

By the time she finally reached the beach, Moana was more than a little exhausted. After hastily pulling her boat up onto the sand, far enough away from the waves that she wouldn't risk having it stolen by the tide, she stumbled into the cave in which Maui had once tried to trap her while he sailed off in her canoe. She curled up in the sand, yawned, closed her eyes, and was just about to give herself over blissfully to a few hours of well-earned sleep when she noticed something glittering out of the corner of her eye. It looked like it was sticking out from beneath that large boulder propped up against the wall.

For a brief moment, Moana considered getting up and going to examine it, but in the end, the fatigue got the better of her. Reasoning groggily that whatever it was would still be there when she woke up, Moana passed out with a face full of sand.

When Moana opened her eyes again, she was in an unrecognizable world. The walls of the cave had become glimmering walls of water, and when she looked around, she realized that she was standing in the middle of a sort of dome underneath the sea, surrounded on all sides by waves that swayed and glimmered, but which somehow managed never to touch her.

"Huh?" She blinked, turning slowly around, trying to take it all in. "Is this...Rarohenga? But, how did I-?"

Then she caught her breath and fell silent, noticing the austere, terribly beautiful woman standing before her. It was a goddess of the sea who looked like she was made of the finest, most delicate blue and black corals which curled around her arms and waist and which made up a sort of knot at the back of her head where eels and sea snakes slithered around like thick, slimy tendrils of hair.

There was something in the woman's eyes, too; something endlessly empty and blank that sent chills rocketing down Moana's spine.

"Hine-nui-te-po," she breathed, belatedly sinking to her knees in the sand and bowing her head.

The goddess of death said nothing.

"I," gasped Moana, "am Chief Moana of Motunui. Please, I beg you, release the sea from the curse you have placed upon it and allow my people to voyage and fish again in peace. We have done nothing to harm or hinder you, and our children are dying. Please, please, cease your anger and let us be. Please…"

Still, Hine-nui-te-po said nothing. When Moana finally had the courage to look up into the goddess's eyes again, she was shocked to see Maui kneeling on the sand only a few feet away from her, with his head also bowed. As Moana watched, he looked up at her, flashed her one of his classic cheesy, friendly, over-confident smiles, and something warm stirred in Mana's heart.

She opened her mouth to speak to him, but suddenly the goddess's long coral-encrusted fingers were on Maui's shoulders, and Maui's smile faded away. His body stiffened up and all the color began to drain out of face and body. The goddess leaned in, kissed his long hair, and she breathed inaudibly against his neck.

"M-Moana," mumbled Maui as his eyes went wide, cold, and lifeless like the goddess's eyes. He looked horribly empty and frozen, and Moana reached desperately for him.

"Maui?"

He didn't respond, but instead slumped backwards into Hine-nui-te-po's arms. The goddess smiled a mirthless smile and began dragging him away, back into the darkness.

Moana started to scream.

"MAUI!"

"AHHH!"

She awoke from her nightmare, sweating and panicky, and sat bolt upright on the floor of the cave, banging her newly-tattooed shoulder into the wall as she did so.

"Ow! Maui?!" Moana sucked in a deep breath, took a quick look around, and then slowly exhaled again, intensely relieved as reality took control.

"Okay," she muttered to herself, "I'm...definitely awake now. Nope, noooo more sleeping for me, today. Actually, after that, I think it's very possible that I might never be able to fall asleep again, ever. Ugh. Dad was right...talk about the stuff of nightmares. Ow, my arm."

Shaking as much of the sand as she could out of her face and hair, Moana turned to gaze at the spot under the boulder where she could still see a patch of glittering light.

Cautiously, she nudged at the boulder with her foot, then slowly shoved it aside with both hands, until the glittering patch turned out to be a hole in the earth of the cave, through which she could see shimmering water deep down below. She could hear the splashing, shifting sounds of the ocean as well.

"Well," she reasoned with herself, "either the ocean led me here so that I could find the entrance to Rarohenga and save the day, or this is just some totally coincidental hole in the ground. I could get lucky, and this could turn out to be one of those magical underwater realms, like Lalotai, where humans can breathe even though we're theoretically who-knows-how-far under the ocean. On the other hand, if this really is just a hole in the ground, I can only hold my breath for about a minute, and I'll probably drown before I get halfway to wherever they're holding Maui. Wait, the spirits of the dead don't need to breathe, so I might drown either way. Hard to say."

She gazed down into the hole for a long moment, trying not to be logical, trying not to think about all the myriad ways that she might be about to jump to certain death. Then, she sighed.

"Oh well. I've come this far, so there isn't much point in getting cold feet now. Um...here goes."

Moana steeled herself, shut her eyes, jumped, and plummeted down into the ocean realm below.

It was a familiar feeling, but not one she'd ever particularly cared to repeat.

"Ch-chee-hu!" she called, trying to channel her inner chiefly power and not to sound as frankly petrified as she felt. "Ah-aaaaaah!"

* * *

 **Author's End Note:** A quick note about Maui's favorite war cry, "chee-hu." I've done some research on this, and this is actually not the right spelling, nor is it even the right pronunciation of the word. This is more of a modern colloquial form of of the cry, used primarily by younger generations, so Maui wouldn't actually have used it.

I'm going to keep using it, though, because he only says it like forty different times in the movie, and I want to do my best to be character-accurate whenever possible. Just thought I'd throw out that little bit of cultural anthropology to show that I have been doing my homework. Thank you!


	6. Chapter Five

**Author's Note:** I am totally and completely unmotivated today, but at least it's Friday. It is way, way too cold to venture out into the universe, so I suppose I'll just clean the house, do some dishes, and write some fanfiction.

Thanks so much to everyone who is reading and taking the time to comment. Reading your thoughts and commentary always makes my day just that much better. I hope you don't mind too much if I respond to your reviews; I've always felt strongly about acknowledging people who go out of their way to leave a comment. I want you to know that I appreciate you, because I do! I really do.

* * *

 **Chapter Five**

Meanwhile, in Rarohenga, Maui was starting to get bored of his underwater prison.

Hine-nui-te-po, aware that demigods, unlike the dead, sometimes had to eat, had set up a meal service that she ordered delivered to the throne room three times a day. The meals were brought by Hine-nui-te-po's Turehu, spirits of dead maidens who served as ladies-in-waiting to the goddess of the dead. As far as Maui could make out, they were the only ones who were permitted to pass freely in and out of Rarohenga, and they were responsible for ushering the souls of the newly deceased into the spirit realm.

The woman who brought Maui's food today was a new spirit whom he'd never seen before. She was fair-haired, maybe in her forties, and her brow, jaw, and hands were decorated all over with tattoos of flickering flames and blazing embers, all indications that she'd died in some kind of terrible fire. Even her woven robes glowed the red/gold colors of an inferno.

Before presenting Maui with his bowl of small white fish garnished with some kind of tangy seaweed that tasted better than it smelled, the woman tied Maui's ankles together with a very thick, knotted rope. Then she unshackled one of his wrists, but left the other one attached to the throne room wall, so that Maui could eat, but was still essentially incapacitated.

While Maui scarfed down the fish, he watched the woman out of the corner of his eye. She had drifted over to where his hook hung on the wall and was gazing at it with fingers itching at her sides, obviously fascinated. Maui thought he recognized the signs, and he pushed his feet experimentally against his bonds, testing to see how strong the ropes really were.

"You can take it down, if you like," he told her. "It won't hurt you. I mean, as long as you don't cut yourself on it, or anything."

The woman flashed him a quick, sharp look, then bit her lip.

Maui smiled.

"Let me guess," he hazarded. "You're….what, twenty three? Twenty four?"

The woman blushed, which wasn't something Maui usually saw from the colorless spirits of the dead.

"So your grandma," he went on, "or maybe your grandpa, I don't want to discriminate, told you all kinds of stories of that fish hook and the fantastic feats of Maui, demigod of the wind and sea…and you're just itching to try it for yourself, am I right? Hey, look, you don't have to be shy. What's your name?"

He raised an eyebrow at her, beaming with godly warmth and friendliness, and the woman noticeably melted a bit, becoming just a little more noticeably human. She almost gave him a smile.

"My name is Ngaire," she told him, and her voice was shriller and more brittle than he'd expected from a healthy-looking woman like her.

 _Well…maybe "healthy" isn't the right word in this context,_ Maui reminded himself. _What am I looking for…fit? Robust? No, you can't call a woman "robust." Nevermind, forget it._

"It was my mother," she explained, "who told me the stories of Maui the trickster demigod; the one who brought fire to the world and who created the coconut."

Maui basked in the glow of her admiration, reflecting that it was really nice, for once, to be appreciated.

"Well, I mean, I didn't actually create the coconut," he demurred, grinning. "It's more like I, uh, grew the first one. I was the first coconut farmer, or something like that. Anyway, you're welcome."

Ngaire was gazing hopefully at the fishhook again, and this time she was bold enough to reach out and to run a finger lightly over the edge of the blade.

"H-hey be careful," laughed Maui. "It's still sharp, okay? I've kept that thing sharp for thousands of years. It's still a weapon."

"I've heard every single one of your stories" Ngaire went on, nodding slowly. "You were…an important part of my childhood. Seeing you here…it reminds me of my mother, and of my island, my home. Yours were always the bedtime stories that she told us to keep us from wandering off into the woods at night; stories exciting enough that we'd forget that we weren't tired. You helped me fall asleep for years."

Now, Maui was sure that he had her. Settling back against the wall, he nodded encouragingly.

"That's great…that's really nice to hear, actually," he sighed. "I mean, I'll be honest with you; I was beginning to think that maybe people were starting to forget about little old Maui, the bygone demigod. I'm sure happy to hear that the old storytelling traditions are still being kept up, I really am! Hey, you know what? I bet there's one Maui story that you haven't heard yet. Most people haven't. It's not one that I tell to just anybody, but there's something about you, Ngaire…something special. Oh, go on, take the hook down. Give it a swing. I won't tell anybody, I promise; Maui's honor."

Ngaire darted a quick sharp look at him, hesitated for another moment, then exhaled abruptly and snatched the hook off the wall. She held it reverently in front of her, her mouth slightly open.

"Once upon a time," Maui began, never taking his eyes off Ngaire's face as he spoke, "only a couple of thousand years ago, Maui the demigod, shapeshifter and hero to men and women everywhere decided he was going to try to steal immortality…for the mortals."

Right on cue, Ngaire's eyes widened and she sucked in a surprised breath. Maui kept right on talking casually, pretending he hadn't noticed.

"The only thing standing between humans and immortality is, well, death, right? So, naturally, I strolled down to Rarohenga and tried to reason with her majesty, Hine-nui-te-po. I argued that she should give up the whole "herding the spirits of the dead" thing and maybe try broadening her horizons. I, uh…well, to make a long story short, I asked her out. I even took her to a few pretty good parties on some of the surrounding islands, got her to spread her wings a little bit, to see the world. Not to brag, or anything, but I showed her a really good time."

Ngaire had taken a few steps closer to Maui while he was speaking, until she was only inches away from him, still clutching the hook in both hands.

"You…you _dated_ the goddess of death?" She looked and sounded shocked.

Maui just shrugged. "Oh yeah…me and Hine-nui-te-po, we go way back. That's why she's still so crazy about me. She had a taste, and she wanted more. I mean, not that I blame her, or anything. Who could resist this?" He tried to flex, but remembered at the last second that one of his arms was still shackled to the wall, and so he only managed to show off one set of tattoo—covered muscles. "We went out for a few weeks," he explained, "but I'll tell you the truth – what I really wanted was for her to spill the beans. I was trying to find out the secret to immortality, and I was hoping that if she got cozy enough with me, she might be ready to confide in me, to give me some insider info. Unfortunately…it never happened."

Ngaire was now so close that Maui could almost touch her.

"Oh," she breathed. "Why not?"

"Well…things got a little complicated between us," Maui sighed, "especially after she caught me flirting with one of the Turehu and asking too many questions about immortality and the secret to life. She figured out pretty quickly what I was really up to, aaaaaand then she got really angry and tried to kill me. You know what they say about a wronged woman, right? Anyway, I had to get out of there, fast, and that…well, that was supposed to be the end of the story. At least, it was until she caught with me again a few weeks ago. I'm gonna have a hard time getting out of this one, let me tell you. Can you believe she's still mad? It was like…well, more than a few lifetimes ago. Some people just can't get over a grudge."

Ngaire just shook her head slowly.

"You'll…you'll never get out of here alive," she assured Maui. "The goddess is right to be angry. You should be ashamed of what a horrible thing you did. There are consequences to breaking someone's heart. You can't just-!"

Suddenly, Maui swung out with his legs, slamming them hard into Ngaire's side. She shrieked, tumbled backwards, and released the hook, which Maui grabbed in midair with his one free hand. Before Ngaire had a chance to get back up, Maui had severed his remaining shackles and the ropes around his ankles with the magical fish hook, and was already running full-tilt for the throne room door.

"Just remember," he called behind him to the stunned Ngaire, "that story's a secret between you and me, okay? Don't go telling everybody about it. It's not that I'm ashamed. It's just, that one's kind of…personal! You get what I'm saying? Chee-hu!"

* * *

 **Author's End Note:**

Yep, Maui is definitely a fun character to write. Luckily, we'll get to see more of him now that Moana and he are so close to being in the same place! Stay tuned for their exciting reunion, as soon as I get a chance to start work on Chapter Six.


	7. Chapter Six

**Author's Note:** There is ice everywhere. I can't actually leave the house; it's too slippery. My poor uncle apparently fell on the ice this morning and broke his hip, it's so bad out there.

I needed to go grocery shopping today, and I am very, very hungry. I apologize in advance for any typos. There is no food in my house, and the hunger is getting the better of me…

* * *

 **Chapter Six**

"-aaaaaaaah!"

Moana landed in her most graceful attempt at a heap behind a large patch of brightly-colored coral. She squatted down and hid herself, just in time to avoid being seen by the five women walking by from the other direction, each of them dressed in vivid woven robes and sporting elaborate tattoos all over their faces, necks, hands, and arms. They were all carrying sacks over their shoulders and bowls overflowing with what looked like seaweed and ocean plants. The one closest to Moana looked even younger than her, no more than fourteen or fifteen. She had tightly curled ringlets of fair hair, and robes that were splattered with bits of rusty red, which for a terrifying second made her clothes look as though they were drenched in blood.

Moana shivered and flattened herself against the coral, trying to breathe as quietly as possible.

 _Okay,_ she thought. _So, we made it to Rarohenga, probably. Now what?_

The tattooed women were all making their way procession-style towards something on the horizon, a sort of palace-like structure made out of the same beautiful bright coral that Moana could see was growing all over the nearby landscape. As they passed, the woman at the end of the procession stumbled, shook her head, muttered something to herself, and then straightened up again. She was moving more slowly than the others, and although Moana couldn't quite see her face, there was something intimately familiar about the way she held her shoulders and about that little mutter.

Carefully, Moana crept out from her hiding place and hazarded a few steps closer to the parade of women. Almost immediately, however a terrible shriek emanated from the direction of the palace, and Moana had to cover her ears to block out the terrible sound, falling to her knees in the sand. It was a cry of agony and rage, but not a human cry. No human lungs could have that much breath control.

The tattooed women all stopped, stood perfectly still for a moment, and then stared at each other. The scream rang out again, and this time they all threw up their hands and went running in the direction of the sound, gathering up their robes and leaving the seaweed and sacks lying in a jumble on the ground.

Finally, when the screams had died away, Moana got slowly to her feet again. When she looked up, she found one of the women standing over her, smiling and shaking her head.

"Moana," murmured the woman, chuckling a little bit under her breath. "I should have known. As soon as I heard Hine-nui-te-po's scream, I thought, 'who could have made the goddess that angry?' You had that effect on your father, too, if I remember rightly. Even after all these years, you're still our Moana; always making waves."

Moana stared.

Her Grandmother, Tala, stood before her, wearing a quiet white robe and with beautiful new tattoos of happy children and rejoicing villagers encircling her shoulders and traveling up what was visible of her chest. On the undersides of her arms were the faces of the terrible monsters she'd once told stories about during Moana's youth, and on her chin were chiseled the leaves from a coconut tree.

"G-Grandma?" Moana blinked, startled by the tears that had begun to well unbidden at the back of her eyes. "Is…is that really you?"

"Oh yes…well, what's left of me, anyway," sighed Grandma, winking. "But, hey, look; no more cane!" She waved her empty hands around for a moment to demonstrate, then grinned. "Never liked that thing much anyway…it only slowed me down."

She threw her arms around Moana. "Oh, how I've missed you, my child. I figured I'd find you here eventually, but not for another many, many years to come! Nice of you to visit your old Grandmother. What a lucky lady I am, eh?"

"I've missed you too, Grandma," whispered Moana, burying herself in her grandmother's embrace. "B-but…but I'm not here to visit. I'm-!"

"Oh, I know why you're here." Grandma nodded and jerked a thumb in the direction of the palace. "That's what the screaming was all about, I'm sure. You're our favorite demigod's new Chief-in-shining-armor, aren't you? You're here for Maui. Part of me knew that you'd come the moment I heard of what Hine-nui-te-po had done….and it's a good thing, too. The goddess is becoming impatient. If Maui holds out on her too much longer, she will lose interest and feed him to the creatures of the deep….or maybe she'll kill him herself. She certainly has been in a testy mood ever since he arrived, so it's hard to say."

"Grandma," explained Moana, "the sea has turned against us. It's…I think it's under the control of Hine-nui-te-po. It's doing her bidding and taking our villagers' lives. I have to convince the goddess to make it stop."

"Shouldn't pick sides in this kind of a love argument," muttered Grandma. "Never ends well, I can tell you. You would think that the sea would be old enough to know that by now."

Moana just gave her a blank look.

"The sea and the goddess of death are old friends, Moana," explained her grandmother patiently. "No doubt the ocean is irate on Hine-nui-te-po's behalf, irritated at the terrible trick Maui played on her. You'll have to convince it to let its anger go if you want our people to live in peace again. If anyone can do it, then you can. After all, you know the ocean better than almost anyone, don't you?"

Moana was stunned.

"So…it's not the goddess that I have to convince, then," she said. "The ocean…The ocean's doing this of it's own free will? I…I'm not sure I can believe that."

"You may not want to believe it," retorted Grandma, "but trust me when I tell you that it's very hard when a friend is struggling with a question of romance. The waters of love are rocky and difficult to navigate, Moana, even for the gods. Cut the ocean a little bit of slack, mmm? It's probably only trying to be loyal."

"By killing our people?" Moana was indignant. "How the heck is that-?"

"By taking out Hine-nui-te-po's anger on the people to whom her faithless lover keeps running back," clarified Grandma.

Moana gritted her teeth. "That's…that's just stupid! What good does the ocean or Hine-nui-te-po think that's going to do? I mean, it's not like she can _force_ him to fall in love with her just by…well, by destroying everything else! Ugh! That's not how any of this works…uh, right?"

Moana, who had never actually been in love as far as she could remember, was reasonably certain that everyone in this situation was acting like ridiculous children.

 _Then again,_ she reminded herself, _who am I to judge? I mean…maybe it'll make sense if I ever…nope. No, actually, I'm pretty sure this'll always seem stupid. I mean, come on!_ _Can't we all just TRY to get along?_ _There are plenty of fish the sea, right?_

Grandma shrugged.

"Be that as it may," she went on, "it's up to you to sort this whole mess out. If the goddess murders Maui, that will only deepen her anger and make the Ocean's sorrow on her behalf even worse. You'll have to get in there, save Maui, and then convince the ocean to release its anger…before things get any more out of hand than they already are."

"No pressure," muttered Moana, but her heart wasn't really in it. She'd known she was in for a mess when she'd first started out on this quest.

Her grandmother gave her a comforting little pat on the shoulder.

"I believe in you, Moana," she murmured encouragingly. "Oh, and take this."

Removing her white robe, Grandmother placed it carefully around Moana's shoulders.

"This is one of the robes that the Tarehu must wear to obtain passage in and out of Rarohenga," Grandma explained. "Without it, you'll never get in to Hine-nui-te-po's palace, either. It's a little small on you; probably because I've shrunk a bit with age, but I doubt anyone will notice."

Moana turned and looked back at the palace.

"Maui's in there?" She swallowed, nodded once, and set her jaw, steeling herself for an ugly encounter. "Okay…then that's where I need to be. Thanks so much, Grandma. I'm really glad I-!"

Before Moana had a chance to finish her sentence, she heard a familiar whooping cry, and turned just in time to see Maui himself running by as fast as he could, with several robed and tattooed women at his heels. As Moana watched, Maui raised his hook over his head and transformed himself into a shark, which went racing through the water like a shot, leaving his pursuers in the dust.

"…or," muttered Grandma, shrugging, "maybe you won't need the robe after all. In that case, I'd like it back, if you don't mind, child. It's a bit cold down here."

Moana was still watching Maui the shark. He had almost made it around the corner and out of sight when there was an abrupt burst of multi-colored light, and the goddess Hine-nui-te-po was standing before him, blocking his path. She raised her hands over her head, uttering a few words that Moana couldn't hear, and Maui was suddenly in human form again, clutching his hook with one hand and holding up the other as if to shield himself, watching apprehensively as the goddess took several slow steps towards him.

"H-Hine-nui-te-po!" He grinned, rubbing nervously at the back of his neck and slowly but steadily backing away from her. "I was just, um, stretching my legs! Or, uh, my fins, as it happens. Hey, so…can we talk about this? How about it? I was thinking, maybe we should take some time apart for a bit, get our heads on straight, you know? Come on, now, there's no reason to get angry. You, uh, you don't have to look at me like that. You've got really, _really_ piercing eyes; has anyone ever told you that? I bet you get that all the time."

Moana sighed.

"Here you go," she told her Grandmother, passing the robe back. "You're right, I don't think I'll be needing this. It was great seeing you, Grandma, but…I gotta go."

"Go get 'im, Moana,." Grandma pumped her fist encouragingly in the air.

Without a backward glance, Moana took off running in the direction of Maui and Hine-nui-te-po. She could hear her grandmother calling something after her, but she couldn't make out just exactly what it was.

* * *

 **Author's End Note:** Yay, we finally got Maui and Moana into the same location! I really want to write the next chapter, but I desperately need some food first. I'm gonna see if I can bargain with my roommate. Thanks for reading!


	8. Chapter Seven

**Author's Note:** My husband braved the ice to bring me Chipotle. Now THAT is an expression of true love if ever I saw one.

Now that I am feeling magically romantic and significantly less hungry, let's finally have a meeting between Maui and Moana!

* * *

 **Chapter Seven**

Confronted with the wrath of Hine-nui-te-po, Maui was considering his options.

 _Giant hawk? No,_ he decided, _definitely not. Not underwater. Whale? Too slow. Shark? No good. I couldn't eat her, even if I wanted to. I may look scary, but even as a creature of the deep, I guess I'm just a big softie. Plus, it'd give me terrible indigestion. Let's see, what else have we got?_

He was weighing the pros and cons of turning into a whitehead fish and rushing between Hine-nui-te-po's legs before she could crush him when he noticed movement from an unexpected quarter out of the corner of his eye. Turning quickly to combat whatever was coming at him from behind, Maui was stunned to see the last person in the world he had expected hurrying towards them, gritting her teeth with that familiar, adorably determined look on her face. She was taller now, with curves, he noticed, where there hadn't been curves before.

 _How many years has it been,_ he found himself wondering. _Three? Four? Can't be five, can it? Nah…_

She had tattoos, now, too, but one in particular that he couldn't tear his eyes away from. There was the design of a fishhook curving around the brow of her left eye; one that Maui recognized as looking like every artist's depiction of Maui's own magical hook; the way it was drawn in tapestries and described by the most vivid storytellers.

 _She's the girl who tamed Maui, the trickster demigod,_ he thought ruefully. _At least, that's what they say about her; I've heard the stories, the 'new legends' showing up all over the islands. Heh. It suits her, I guess._

He supposed that it should have annoyed him. After all, that was his symbol, his one and only gift from the gods. Still, he found himself perversely pleased by the idea that now, every time she looked at her reflection in the water, she'd remember him. There was something really kind of refreshing about that.

She wouldn't be able to forget him, even if she wanted to. He was etched in her skin.

 _That's…actually a little creepy, when I think about it,_ he realized. _Then again, I've got her face tattooed on my chest, so I guess we're even? Maybe? Doesn't matter, not the point._

Moana had reached them by now, a little out of breath. She gave Maui an uncertain little smile.

"Uh, hi," said Maui. "This is a surprise."

 _Okay, that…that sounded really stupid,_ he thought, kicking himself internally. _Come on, you're an all-powerful heroic demigod, you can pull off talking to a thirteen-year-old mortal girl. Well, fifteen. Eighteen?_

Moana had, by now, turned her attention back to Hine-nui-te-po, who was glaring at her with all the disdainful force and elegance of the personification of death.

"Um, hello," announced Moana, dropping instantly to one knee in the sand and bowing her head before the goddess. "My name…is Moana, Chief of the village of Motunui, and I've…uh, I've come to offer my services on behalf of my people."

Maui just stared, totally unsure of where this was going.

"We have heard, on our island," Moana went on, gaining confidence as she let herself get more involved in her story, "of the terrible way that this half-mortal man is treating you, oh great goddess. Even the sea is angry that he has had, the, uh…the audacity to reject you, and the sea…well, the sea has started destroying our island and killing our people in its rage. For the sake of our people and as a favor to you, Hine-nui-te-po, I request permission to remove this man back to my island, where we can execute him for the crimes he has committed against us both. In so doing, we hope to calm the fury of the sea and to return to our peaceful lives once again."

She glanced up hopefully at the goddess, and Maui sighed.

 _Nice try, princess,_ he thought, _but unfortunately, she's already got one up on you, there._

Hine-nui-te-po was smiling, now, which was never a very good sign.

"Poor little mortal girl," she murmured, shaking her head and reaching down to lift Moana's chin with her hand. "It's all right…you can get up. I won't harm you, I think. After all…I suspect that we have so very much in common."

Hesitantly, glancing uncertainly at Maui as she did so, Moana got to her feet.

"Now then," purred the goddess, "I admire your attempt to free your friend, I really do. Loyalty is so refreshingly, so sorely lacking around here these days, wouldn't you say?" She shook her head dolefully, shooting a significant look at Maui as she did so. "Still, I'm afraid it won't work. You see, I don't really believe that either you or your people has any desire to execute our favorite demigod. Why would you? Why on earth would you want to punish the man who, and this is in Maui's own words, I believe, 'saved your entire family from an all-devouring darkness,' hmm? No, no, I don't believe you would. He's your hero after all, now, isn't he? He was my hero too, once, little girl; I once thought that the brave Maui could do no wrong, like you do…but I was a fool. I was a fool, just as you're likely to be a fool if no one sets you straight. Our beloved Maui can't be trusted, not for a moment. None of his protestations are ever true. He'll only use you until he's gotten whatever it is he wants out of you, and then he'll cast you aside and run off to chase his freedom, just the way he has done for thousands upon thousands of years. DO you think that he cares for you? He cares for no one but himself. Don't make the mistakes I made, little one. Leave, now, before you, too, fall victim to his mischievous charm."

Maui just grinned. "Mischievous charm? Heh, kinda like the sound of that, actually. Still, come on, don't you think you're laying it on a bit thick?"

"Maui is a good person," insisted Moana. "Okay, so maybe he's made a few bad mistakes in the past; I'm not gonna pretend that he's perfect, or anything, but-!"

"Do you know what he did to me, little Chieflet?" Hine-nui-te-po raised her eyes to the sky and gently shook her head. "No, no, I'm sure you don't. I doubt he would have told you. Well, would you like to hear the story of how Maui the ruthless trickster tried to seal the secret of immortality for his beloved humans?"

Alarm bells began ringing in Maui's head, and he held out his hand frantically to forestall her. "H-hey, that's private business! I mean, you know…that's personal, just between you and me, babe."

Hine-nui-te-po gave him a sharp, icy look. "Why? You do. You use the story of our personal history whenever it's convenient for you; isn't that right, Ngaire?"

The blond woman, who had caught up with them and was now standing at her goddess's side, just nodded silently. Maui winced.

"Many, many years ago," intoned Hine-nui-te-po, turning her attention back to Moana, "I fell in love with Maui. He courted me, brought me gifts from the land and sea, showered me with affection and words of love, and promised that he would marry me as soon as we obtained my father's approval. There was some…slight difficulty there, and I ultimately decided that, with or without my father's blessing, I would marry the man I loved. He protested, put off the ceremony, made one excuse after enough to deter me from the wedding, until finally it became clear to me that he'd never intended to marry me in the first place. It was only when I caught him flirting with another of the Turehu that I realized he'd only been after me for my secret, the secret to immortality, which he had hoped to steal for the humans above. He betrayed me…and he abandoned me, leaving me to spend the rest of my life alone while he flew off to seek a life of adventure. He threw me away as though I meant nothing to him. No doubt, Moana of Motunui, he will do the same to you, in time."

Maui hazarded a glance at Moana, who was now staring wide-eyed, her mouth open in shock.

"You…you did WHAT?" She glared at him, her eyes blazing. "How…how could you?"

"Listen, listen, I can explain," Maui began, but Moana wasn't interested in listening.

"You can't just…ugh! I can't believe you! No wonder Hine-nui-te-po's angry. I would be angry. I AM angry. Do you know what they do to men on our island who abandon their wives and girlfriends like that? Do you?"

"Uh, yes, I do," muttered Maui, "but, Moana, seriously, it was like, I don't know, two, three thousand years ago? Everything's different now! I'm a changed man! Come on, you have to believe me."

Moana advanced on him furiously. "Why should I believe you? All you ever do is lie, like you did to this poor goddess! If I let my guard down for a second, you're just gonna play some kind of a trick on me, I know it!"

Moana's voice was just very slightly too loud, and something in the way she was gazing at him took Maui by surprise. He narrowed his eyes at her, saw something in her face that didn't' quite fit with the words that she was saying, and frowned.

"I…well, I mean, I'm a trickster demigod," he reminded her slowly. "Trickery is pretty much in my job description, so what do you expect?"

"You're horrible." Moana took three more quick, angry steps, closing the gap between them, grabbed angrily onto Maui's ear and pulled it down close to her mouth. "You're absolutely disgusting, treating a woman like that!"

"Ow, ow, ow, hey, seriously?" Maui pretended to struggle, but honestly, Moana wasn't pulling all that hard. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Hine-nui-te-po had dropped her guard and was now standing with her arms crossed over her chest, watching Maui and Moana with amusement.

"When I get back to Motunui," Moana hissed at him, "I'm going to tell everyone the truth about you. I'm going to tell them what kind of a man you truly are. I can't believe I came all the way down here just to save a person like you. In fact, I'm so angry that I'm going to leave…right…NOW!"

Maui knew his cue when he heard it. With Moana still firmly grasping his ear, he held his hook up in the air with both hands.

"CHAAAAAHOOOOOOOOO!"

With a triumphant shout, he transformed into a shark in the blink of eye, which left Moana now hanging on to his dorsal fin. Taking the opening she'd made for him, Maui took off across the water before Hine-nui-te-po and her Turehu could gather their wits and take stock of what had happened.

He could just hear the goddess and her followers screaming in the distance as he and Moana broke the ocean's surface and struck out wildly for the shore.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** This chapter was inspired by AO3 user **Kinematics,** who encouraged me to let Moana give Maui a tongue lashing in front of Hine-nui-te-po. Thanks very much for the suggestion!


	9. Chapter Eight

**Author's Note:** I sat down this morning and wrote this entire chapter from Moana's point of view.

Then, an hour or so ago, I read it over, wasn't satisfied, and then rewrote the whole thing from Maui's point of view instead. I think I like this version better.

This does make the perspective switch between the two characters just a little asymmetrical, but I'll sort it out with Chapter Nine.

Fair warning: My computer died last night (her name was Gertrude II, and she will be sorely missed) and so I am currently writing on an ancient HP that I borrowed from a friend for the rest of the week. The keyboard is terrible and sticky, and typing is incredibly hard. Thank you in advance for your patience with any egregious typographical errors.

* * *

 **Chapter Eight**

After a nice, long, invigorating swim for their lives, Maui and Moana wound up lying on their faces on the beach of the island where he'd been trapped for years before returning the Heart of Te Fiti. Maui found that he was surprisingly happy to see the place again. Any kind of dry land, he reasoned, was a sight for sore eyes after weeks of imprisonment under the sea, and besides, this time he had his fish hook, and Moana apparently had her canoe. He was free at last, endlessly relieved, and desperate to get all the water out of his clogged ears.

Moana, on the other hand, was frantic.

"Oh no," she was muttering to herself. "No, no, no! What have I done? No, forget about that; what am I going to do _now?_ I…I gotta go."

Before Maui had a chance to react, Moana was already rapidly pushing her canoe back towards the edge of the beach.

"Moana," began Maui, "hey, take a deep breath. Why are you freaking out?"

"I have to get back to Motunui," gasped Moana. "I…I disobeyed a _goddess,_ and not just any goddess, either; the goddess of the dead. You know, the one who has the power to give and take life at will? That all-powerful, immortal goddess? Yeah, she is NOT gonna be happy with me, and what's worse, what's worse is that I just had to go and announce the name of my island! I was all like "My name is Moana of Motunui," because …I don't know, I guess I got nervous, maybe? Anyway, now she knows who my people are and where they live, and I have to get back to the island before she does, so that I can at least warn them!"

Leaping into her canoe, she dipped her paddle into the water, took a quick, desperate glance out over the sea, and then turned back to Maui, looking annoyed.  
"Hey," she asked, "are you coming? Because I have to leave, _now_."

"Look, it's fine," insisted Maui. "Nothing bad's going to happen…you've got nothing to worry about, kinda."

Moana just stared at him for a moment, her mouth slightly open. "Nothing to worry about? Have you even been paying attention? I just-!"

"I'm serious." Shaking his head, Maui made his way down the beach and rested a hand on her canoe, keeping her on shore. "Hine-nui-te-po isn't going after you, or after anybody else on Motunui. She can't. Why do you think she bothers sending her Turehu out to do all her errands on shore? Because she can't do them herself, that's why. She can't leave Rarohenga, not anymore. She hasn't left the realm of the dead in over two thousand years, so there's nothing she can do to you as long as you keep out of her reach, okay? Calm down. You haven't put your people in any danger."

Moana frowned.

"But," she asked, "why can't Hine-nui-te-po leave Rarohenga? I thought you said-!"

"She can't leave," Maui explained, "because, back in the old days, when I first, uh, decided to stop seeing her, she got really, really angry. She made a solemn vow to the gods and to the sea that she'd never again set foot in the mortal world, probably because I broke her heart and she was looking for something self-destructive to do to get back at me, or something like that. I can't promise to understand what was going on in her head, but ever since then she hasn't been able to leave her kingdom, so it's _fine."_

He tried flashing her a smile, but it felt out of place, and Moana just shook her head.

"It…It's not fine at all," she mumbled, although she did drop the oar, letting it fall back into the boat with a clatter. "Maui, I…I was supposed to make this right. I was supposed to convince the sea to stop being so angry and to stop killing my people, but I didn't. Instead, I…"

She trailed off, biting her lip, and Maui felt a pang in his stomach as he watched the frustration and embarrassment on Moana's face.

"Instead," he said slowly, "you decided to save me."

Moana shook her head again.

"I didn't 'decide' to do anything," she whispered. "I had to."

"No," countered Maui, "you didn't. You could have just left me there."

"Oh, sure." Moana turned on him angrily. "Yeah, I guess I should have just left you to handle everything on your own. I bet you're going to tell me that you had the whole situation under control, right? Because I'll be honest with you, Maui, that's NOT what it looked like from where I was standing!"

Maui opened his mouth to respond, to say something flippant, to assure her that yes, in fact, everything had been fine and that he hadn't needed any help at all from some little mortal with a savior complex who hadn't made any effort to see or contact him in years.

When he tried, however, he found that he couldn't form the words. Moana looked angrily hurt, confused and miserable, and he'd never seen that look on her face before. He found himself struggling with the idea that he'd created this new Moana, this more mature, more dejected Moana.

He hated it when people looked at him that way, like he'd let them down, and Moana was probably the last person in the world who he'd have wanted to disappoint like that. It made the sick little knots in his stomach tighten even more. This wasn't the triumphant reunion he'd guiltily envisioned maybe a million times, even while he was assuring himself backwards and forwards that it wouldn't matter one way or another if he never saw this silly little mortal girl ever again.

He was supposed to be her hero.

They stood in silence for a moment, neither of them looking directly at the other one. Maui was aware that there were probably a few things he needed to say, but they all seemed stupid when he ran them through in his head.

"Uh…I like the new tattoos," he managed, shrugging helplessly. "Very nice."

 _Oh, that was just great,_ he thought sarcastically. _Yeah, good one, Maui. Really suave._

"You like them? Oh, good," muttered Moana. "I was afraid you'd be angry. I mean, about your hook. I sort of…borrowed it."

"Angry? Nah," Maui assured her. "I mean, if anybody's got a right to borrow it, it's you, so…no harm done. It, uh, it looks good on you."

"Thanks." Moana sighed.

Again, they lapsed into silence.

After a few minutes, Maui muttered, "Listen, there's something I need to know. Why'd you come for me? You could have just left me in Rarohenga, and I mean it. It would have been much easier for you, that way."

Moana looked up at him in surprise.

"The whole thing would have blown over eventually," he went on. "With me out of the way, Hine-nui-te-po would've given up on being angry eventually, and everything would have gone back to normal. The sea would have quieted down. You could have lived in peace."

"She would have killed you," insisted Moana. "And then-!"

"-and then she'd have been miserable," interjected Maui, "but she'd have gotten over it. Out of sight, out of mind, right? The sea might even have turned against her, if she went that far, and that would solve all your problems. You didn't have to come for me to save your village, and I'm sure you know it. So…why'd you do it?"

He waited, trying not to hold his breath, while Moana pursed her lips and appeared to consider that.

Eventually, she met his eyes again.

"You would have come for me," she said simply. "You did before."

Maui's heart sank.

"Right," he said. "So…this was payback, then. You're returning a favor. I get it."

"What?" Moana shook her head hastily. "No, that's not what I-!"

"It's fine. Forget it." Maui's took a quick breath and tried to choke down the rising tide of totally ridiculous emotional garbage that was welling up from somewhere within, somewhere he hadn't been in touch with in a long time. "Listen, I appreciate what you did. I really do. You should be proud of yourself. This is the second time you've saved the life of a demigod. No, it might even be the third. We'll make a legend out of you yet, Chief Moana of Motunui."

He tried to smile again, but it still felt wrong, and Moana just looked even more troubled than she had before.

"M-Maui," she began hesitantly.

Maui swung himself into the canoe.

"Come on," he said, looking out to sea rather than at the expression on her face. "Let's get you home…to your people, where you belong."

Moana lingered on the beach for a moment, as though there was something she wanted to say. Eventually, however, she forced a half-smile and pushed the boat away from the shore, clambering into it at the last minute. Together, she and Maui watched the island getting farther and farther away as the wind caught the sails and the boat picked up speed.

"Okay," said Moana, sounding less than enthusiastic about it. "Thanks…I think."

"Yeah," agreed Maui, sighing to himself. "You're welcome."

* * *

 **Author's End Note:** Plenty of angst in this one, just like I promised.

Don't be too angry at poor Maui and Moana. Relationships can be hard. We'll see a lot more of their interactions, of Hine-nui-te-po and possibly some other gods and goddesses in upcoming chapters, but I absolutely cannot work on this computer any longer. It's driving me crazy. I hope I'll see you all soon, when I find a new machine to work on. Thanks for reading!


	10. Chapter Nine

**Author's Note:**

You know that moment when you can't focus on your three/four legitimate paying jobs, because you're too distracted by a story that you're just itching to write? That's me, right now.

Therefore, I am going to see if I can get this chapter done during my three tiny work breaks today. Wish me luck, I'll need it.

PS: This just in, my previous computer is totally busted. Why? I typed so aggressively and with such emphatic purpose that I demolished my keyboard to the point of no return.

...I can't help it, I'm just an exuberant typist. It's my job.

...I have to try not to break the new one. I wonder, do they make reinforced keyboards for people who do a lot of writing/typing during the day? I'll have to find out.

* * *

 **Chapter Nine**

Just as before, the seas were far, far calmer on the way back to Motunui than Moana had expected, almost as though the ocean had finished its business with her and was now occupied elsewhere.

The sea wasn't the only one being quiet, either. Maui hadn't spoken a word ever since they'd set out from the island, and it had probably been hours.

"Okay," Moana sighed, glancing at him over her shoulder, "what's wrong? Why are you being weird?"

"What?" Maui shrugged. "I'm not being weird."

"Yes," countered Moana, "you are. You're being...really quiet. It's freaking me out."

"That's not weird." Maui shook his head. "I can be quiet."

"Really." Moana raised an eyebrow at him.

"Yeah," returned Maui, "really. Moana, I have spent more years than you've been alive sitting by myself in several different inescapable prisons, with absolutely no one else to talk to. I am _really_ good at being quiet, and literally centuries of practice has made me super comfortable with my own thoughts."

Moana didn't have an immediate response to that, and so they sailed on for a few minutes while she considered.

"Okay," she said, "then maybe it's not the silence. Maybe it's something else. There's...I don't know, some kind of weird, uh, aura? Anyway, something's obviously wrong. If you don't want to talk about it-!"

"It's your imagination," interrupted Maui. "Everything's fine."

Just the irritated monotone in Maui's voice made it clear to Moana that, no, everything was definitely not fine.

"Why," she asked "are you angry? Seriously? You don't have anything to be angry about. You got into a mess thousands of years ago because you decided that it would be a good idea to break Hine-nui-te-po's heart so you could be everyone's favorite 'trickster demigod,' and in the end I had to come rescue you, even though it was kind of out of my way and sort of contrary to my goals. Why the heck does that give YOU a right to be mad?"

Moana expected some backlash from Maui but, to her surprise, she didn't get it.

"It doesn't," he muttered. "It's got nothing to do with any of that. I already thanked you for coming to 'save me' if you want to put it that way, so let's...let's just drop it."

Moana rolled her eyes, but she let the matter go.

 _After all,_ she thought, _people change, right? So, maybe this is normal. It's been a while, so maybe we just need to get used to each other...again. Yeah, that's probably it._

"Wait," said Maui suddenly. "You're really gonna drop it? Just like that? You're not gonna keep asking me what's wrong?"

"Huh?" Moana shook her head. She'd just realized something that had been bothering her ever since they'd left the island, something that didn't quite add up. Maui's comments a few moments ago had made it click in her head.

"Maui," she began, "you...you said that Hine-nui-te-po can't come up to the surface any more, right? Not for thousands of years?"

"Yeah," agreed Maui warily, "that's right."

Moana nodded. "Okay, so...then how did she get her hands on you, after all this time? You didn't go back, did you, just to tease her? Because that, that would be...truly despicable."

"Of course not," grumbled Maui. "What do you take me for, anyway? I didn't go back to tease her. I went back...for something else. I went down to Rarohenga because I had some business there, totally unrelated to any old flames, and she grabbed me when I had my guard down. I should have been more careful. Normally, I am."

Moana waited for him to go on, but he didn't. Instead, he turned his back to her and spent a few minutes fixedly examining the stern of the canoe.

"So," she pressed, "what 'business' was so important that it dragged you back down to the land of the dead?"

Maui snorted a laugh. "I thought you were going to drop it."

"I dropped the other thing," insisted Moana, "but this, this I think I have a right to know, don't you?"

"All right, fine, since you asked." Turning back around to face her, Maui took a quick breath. "The other day, I don't know, maybe three, four weeks ago, I stopped by your island on a whim. Thought I'd, uh, see how you were doing."

Moana was startled. "Wait, you did? But I didn't-!"

"I know," interrupted Maui. "You were busy, probably. Out, I guess, with the boats. Anyway, we didn't run into each other."

Moana felt weirdly guilty, and perversely kind of excited at the same time, which was confusing and a bit overwhelming for a couple of seconds.

"Your Mom was there, thought," Maui went on. You've got some of her look, but I think you honestly take more after your Dad. I digress. The point is, I hung out on her roof for a little bit as a hawk, and I got pretty into the story she was telling. It's my favorite; the new legend of Maui the Demigod and the intrepid Chief Moana, about how they restored the Heart of Te Fiti, saved the world, became a team of undaunted, celebrated heroes. Your Mom tells that story better than just about anybody else on any other island, probably because she heard it first hand from the great Moana of Motunui herself."

Moana flushed. "She...she embellishes it a little," she admitted. "She adds in a few extra pirates and maybe three or four more giant crabs each time. It gets ..kinda embarrassing."

"She's your Mom," returned Maui, shrugging. "She's proud of you. It's not the end of the world. Besides, what's a few more crabs? Let's face it, you and I were kind of a big deal."

Moana blinked. "Were?

"But," continued Maui, "I started thinking, while I was listening, that our story is probably the greatest Maui story of all time. There are hundreds of stories about me all over the islands, I mean, I'm a living legend, probably more talked about than most of the gods, but this story...this one I'm proud of. I want everybody to hear this one, and I realized...well, I realized that there were some people who'd probably never hear it. People who probably needed to hear it. So, I went looking for them, so I could tell them."

"You went looking for them...in Rarohenga," mumbled Moana, not at all sure she understood.

"Yeah," agreed Maui. "I told you, my real parents were mortals, so...they're dead. They're really, really dead. Been dead for a long time."

Maui fell silent for a moment.

"You went to talk to your parents?" Moana bit her lip. "To tell them what you'd done?"

"That's right." Maui nodded. "Don't laugh. I know how pathetic it sounds, but that's what happened."

Moana didn't feel laughing at all, not even a little , the whole thing was a bit sobering.

"Well," she asked, "did you find them?"

"Nope." Maui sighed. "Not even sure I'd know where to look. All I've got is their names, and there are literally millions of dead people floating around down there. It'd take time, more time than I had. Before too long, I got snapped up by Her Royal Miserableness, who apparently thought that two thousand years would have changed my mind about whether or not I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. When I reminded her that she wasn't my type, she got angry, and that's when the sea started getting involved. So, now you know the whole story. Any questions? Fair warning," he muttered sarcastically, "there may be a pop quiz."

Moana was so distracted by thoughts of Maui searching for his parents in the realm of the dead that she almost missed the turn she needed to take to keep them on course towards Motunui.

"That's...that's so sad," she said, thinking aloud.

Maui made a disgusted face. "Oh, gee, thanks," he said. "Just what I wanted, some pity. My favorite."

"What? Oh, no, no, I...that's not what I meant," added Moana hastily, but it had been, and they both knew it.

There was something else about Maui's story too that had gotten to her, even if he'd tried to gloss over it before she'd had a chance to inquire any further.

"Maui," she asked carefully, "how many times have you come to Motunui to, uh, 'see how I was doing?'"

Maui gave her a long, very direct sort of look.

"I once turned into a shark and sat on the beach near your village docks for almost fourteen hours straight," he said simply. "You walked right by me three times."

"Wha...you WHAT?" Moana's eyes widened in alarm. "Why the heck didn't you say something?

Are you serious? I didn't even notice!"

"You 'didn't even notice' a giant shark just chilling next to your canoe for an entire day? Tch." Maui made a face. "That….that's just doesn't seem likely."

For a moment, Moana couldn't even find the words. She waved her hands around exasperatedly, trying to indicate the ridiculousness of it all, then shook her head.

"Is there...some really good reason," she began slowly, "why you couldn't just walk up to my front door and knock like a normal person? Preferably shaped like a normal person?"

Again, Maui hesitated.

"Once," he said slowly, "I did. It was they day you became Chief. I flew over, marched on up to your home, knocked on the door, and when nobody answered I sort of...let myself in."

He winced, shaking his head. "You all, uh, looked like you were having a pretty good time. Everybody was laughing, you had the whole ceremonial getup on, there was food everywhere, and light, and...uh, well, overall it seemed like a pretty good party, but one that I didn't have an invitation to. I didn't want to interrupt, so...I snuck out again before anybody noticed."

"Maui." Moana wasn't even sure what to say.

"Look, the truth is," muttered Maui, "I may be the guy who returned the Heart of Te Fiti, but I'm also the guy who stole the thing in the first place. People died because of what I did, people from your village. Sure, they may like to tell stories now of how I'm some great hero, but what would they say if I walked up and introduced myself? Probably nothing nice. I've been driven out of villages before. I know how easily humans forget the good and dwell on the bad. Somehow, I don't think I'd be welcome at your parties."

He finally trailed off, looking embarrassed and dejected.

Moana took a deep breath.

"Okay," she said. "First of all...I would never let anyone drive you out of my village. Ever."

"I appreciate that," muttered Maui, "but that's not the point."

"Second of all,"Moana went on, "you absolutely have to stop hiding out on the beaches or on rooftops, because that is frankly really creepy, and someone could catch and eat you, which would be really confusing and disappointing for the poor hunger when he realized what was going on. Did I mention that was really creepy?"

Maui almost chuckled. "Maybe. So, wait, you really didn't notice the shark? How did you not-?"

"And," finished Moana, placing a hand on Maui's arm, "thirdly, and this is the most important one, Maui, I-!"

"Uh oh." Maui cut her off, gazing over her shoulder at the sea beyond. "That...that doesn't look good."

Distracted from what she'd been about to say, Moana spun around to see the island of Motunui looming up in the distance.

"Ah," she gasped. "Oh no…"

There were huge waves crashing relentlessly onto the island's beach, rearing up and slamming against the shore with an incredible force that ate away at the beach and smashed the boats lined up against the docks. As Moana and Maui watched, the waves got higher and higher, more and more aggressive, until they threatened to flood the entire coastline.

"I was afraid of this," mumbled Maui. "Looks like her royal deadliness isn't finished with us after all."

Moana just gazed in horror at the sea which had once been her dearest ally, now doing it's best to brutally destroy the home she loved.

* * *

 **Author's End Note:**

Slightly longer chapter than usual this evening, and with quite a bit of talking and what we call "character work" in the theater. In the next chapter, we'll get back to action-packed adventure sequences (sort of).

Thanks for reading and, as always, I love to hear your thoughts.


	11. Chapter Ten

**Author's Note:** I have a merciless migraine, and I just finished a two-hour play reading as a favor to a director from another theater company. I may not be able to finish a chapter tonight, but I have really strong feelings about trying to keep to a regular update schedule, so let's see if I can pull it off...

* * *

 **Chapter Ten**

For a terrible moment, Moana felt truly helpless in the face of the ocean's rage. She wanted to scream, to throw things at the water, to be furious and betrayed...but there wasn't time.

"We have to get to the village," she gasped.

"We're gonna have a heck of a time making it past those waves," returned Maui.  
Moana just shook her head, doing her best to navigate the roiling sea, slowly but surely drawing them closer and closer to the rapidly receding beach.

"It doesn't matter," she insisted. "We'll manage it. We need to get to the village to evacuate everyone before the whole island floods. There are still a couple of boats left, and if we pack as many people as possible onto our canoe, then-!"

"Put your people out in boats right now, and they'll all drown," shouted Maui, as the noise of the crashing waves increased. "We'd be sending them to their deaths, and us too. It'd be suicide, especially with much heavier boats. We'd never make it."

Moana was beginning to feel trapped and panicky, but she did her best not to show it.

 _Now isn't the time to freak out,_ she reminded herself. _You can do this, Moana. There must be a way._

"There...there has to be _something_ we can do," she mumbled to herself, shaking her head. "Oh, I know, we'll, um, we'll build a barricade! We can build a wall or something out of the rocks on the shore, only...there isn't enough time."

As soon as she said it, she felt stupid. Of course, building a wall out of rocks was something only a child would suggest, she thought, and Moana was beginning to feel more and more like a helpless child, which was infuriating. Now was when she most needed to be a collected, competent Chief.

Maui put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"No," he agreed, "there's no time. A barricade's smart, but we're not using rocks. Luckily, I've got a better idea."

"A better idea?" Moana grinned, relieved. "Okay! I'll try anything if you think it'll actually work. What's the plan?"

"I need you to get us onto the beach," said Maui. "It's gonna get ugly, but I can't pull this off from all the way out here."

"Okay, can do." Moana gritted her teeth. "Hang on!"

Years of practice had made Moana not only a master wayfinder, but also a reasonably good navigator in the toughest of conditions, and much better at keeping her boat upright in the water than she'd been when she'd begun years ago. It was a harrowing few minutes, but dodging back and forth, shifting her weight and moving in time with the sea swells she managed to get them all the way up to the beach without either she or Maui ending up in the water.

As soon as they rode up onto the beach, Maui jumped out of the canoe.

"Come on," he shouted. "I need your help."

"But," began Moana, "the boat-!"

"Leave it!" Maui shook his head emphatically. "We won't need it...I hope."

Dutifully, Moana leapt out of the boat, which, relieved of the weight, almost immediately floated back out to sea, where she watched it smash against a rock and turn to debris in the current.

"This...really better work," she mumbled.

"You're telling me." Squaring his shoulders, Maui turned to face the beach, with his back to the village. "C'mere, I need you to anchor me."

Moana blinked. "You what?"

"I need you to keep me steady while I do this," repeated Maui. "Put your arms around my waist and hold on as tight as you can. Don't let me fall over or get dragged into the sea. When I say push, you start pushing, and if it looks like I'm about to get dragged under, start pulling. Whatever you do, _do not let go._ You're gonna need to show me those muscles."

Moana had spent most of her life climbing amongst the rocks and crags of the islands, and so she knew she had some decent upper body strength, but even so, she suspected that she couldn't compare to a demigod. She reached out anyway, grabbed Maui around the waist and held him as firmly as she could, planting her feet deeply in the sand and trying to think big, strong, powerful thoughts.

Maui took a deep, slow breath, then rolled his shoulders back, glanced over at her, and gave her his best attempt at a rogueish wink.

"Did your Grandma ever tell you," he asked conversationally, "how Maui, demigod of the wind and sea pulled the islands up out of the ocean? It's a good story...not my favorite, like I said, but it's up there. It's got everything; action, adventure, and a relatable hero who you can't help but love. Hang on tight, now, here we go."

With that, Maui raised his fish hook above his head.

"CHAAAAAAAAAAHOOOOOOOOOOO!"

With a cry, he cast his hook as deep as he could into the sand at the very edge of Motunui's beach, and then he began to pull.

Moana felt the earth beneath her feet moving, and she squeaked and had to regain her balance quickly, forcing herself upright, doing her best not to let herself or Maui tumble backwards as he heaved at the ground below. He grunted and strained, the muscles on his back bulging as he struggled against, quite literally, the weight of the world, grasping the fishhook with both hands, his eyes shut tight.

Slowly, terrifyingly, as Maui and Moana pulled, the island began to rise out of the sea, higher and higher, until the beach itself was lifted out of the water. Amazed and breathless, Moana gripped Maui hard and braced him, hauling him back every time the sea began to get the upper hand in their tug-of war. The newly-emerged base of the island stretched down, down, and down into the ocean, which beat helplessly against it, desperately battering the uneroded rock to no avail. As the island continued to shoot upwards, the village was soon so high, so far away from the water that even after years of destructive effort, the sea couldn't have reached it.

Maui grunted, and then swayed. With one last final heave, he pulled the fish hook from the water, and the island shuddered, then settled again. The hook finally came up out of the ground, and Maui tumbled backwards, taking Moana with him. They both ended up in a heap on the sandy ledge that jutted out from the side of what had now become Mount Motunui.

For several long moments, neither of them said anything. Moana was too stunned, and Maui was breathing hard, struggling to inhale after the exertion of making a mountain out of an island.

"Hah," he rasped eventually, propping himself up on his shaky elbows and gazing down triumphantly at the sea below. "See that, ocean? Good luck flooding THIS guy. What'cha gonna do now, huh? Ugh."

He coughed, pulled in another shaky breath, and then collapsed again.

"Maui?" Moana leaned quickly over him, concerned. "Are...are you okay?"

"Yeah," gasped Maui. "I'm great. Just, uh, a little out of shape. Been a few thousand years since I last used some of those muscles, but I still got it! Che...chee hu, uh. Man, I need some water."

Moana gazed down the side of her new mountain at the ocean so far below.

"Hey," cautioned Maui, "don't go falling off the ledge. I'm in no shape to fly down and save you; not right now anyway. I feel like I could sleep for a week...maybe longer. Just sit tight, would you, until I get my breath back."

"It's...it's so far away," mumbled Moana dazedly. She could barely hear the sea anymore, could only vaguely smell it from where she stood. She felt an almost lonely sort of ache as she watched the ocean lapping miserably at the mountainsides for a moment before eventually subsiding again. Before too long, the sea was calm and very remote, almost as though it had given up, which was both an incredible relief to Moana and a sad sort of disappointment.

"Yeah," agreed Maui, sighing and shutting his eyes. "You're welcome. Not…not that you did too badly yourself. Even now, you still manage to impress me. Guess you haven't been skipping your workouts. Nice job, Chief."

Maui grinned, managed to get himself seated upright again, leaning back against a large rock. He winced every time he moved.

Distracted at last from the unsettling distance of the ocean, Moana stood up.

"You're hurt," she told Maui, frowning. "We need to get you back to the village where you can rest."

Gently, she put an arm under Maui's and helped him slowly to his feet.

"I'm not hurt," protested Maui, "just…"

"You're just exhausted," finished Moana. "Too much heroism for one day. Just wait until everyone in the village gets to meet the man who saved our island, not once, but now twice! Maui, thank you. I'm sure they'll be more than just grateful. They'll probably want to throw you a party. You'll be fending off admirers all day long; no, maybe all week! Trust me, they are going to be all over you."

Maui grimaced and gave Moana a doubtful look, but this time it was her turn to be encouraging. She gave his arm a squeeze, and was surprised and alarmed when she realized how much that arm was shaking.

"Just remember," he mumbled as they turned together towards the village, where terrified-looking people were finally beginning to emerge from their homes, "you promised you'd never let anybody run me out of the village, right?"

"If anybody gives you so much as a dirty look," retorted Moana loyally, "they'll have to deal with ME. Now, take it easy, one step at a time. There we go…nice and steady. You're doing great…"

* * *

 **Author's End Note:** Now, I want to give you guys a little backstory here. I bet most of you already know this, but there are several different legends with credit Maui with pulling the Hawaiian islands out of the sea using his magical fish hook. This chapter is a little callback to those legends, which he references once or twice in the movie.

Wow, we're already at chapter ten, and 20,000 words! Not too shabby for a little over a week's worth of work. This story is really fun to write. I hope you're having as much fun with it as I am!


	12. Chapter Eleven

**Author's Note:** I thought I would never get home today. Dear lord.

I am in a rather uncomfortable situation with one of my clients that makes Wednesday nights always a little tough, but hopefully I can churn out Chapter Eleven before midnight. Challenge accepted, let's do this.

* * *

 **Chapter Eleven**

By the time Moana and Maui managed to limp up the path to the village, most of the people of Motunui were already gathered there waiting, chatting frantically amongst themselves, staring down at the faraway sea with wide, frightened eyes. Moana could hear people whispering things like "such a nightmare, like an earthquake," and "what are we supposed to do now?"

"Moana!" Her mother and father rushed to meet her as she and Maui made their way through the throng. "We were so worried. What were you-?"

Moana shot her parents a look that conveyed very clearly, _yes, we are going to talk about this, I promise, but now is NOT the time._

Out loud, she announced, "Mom, Dad, don't worry, I'm okay. Um, this is my friend, Maui. You may have heard me mention him once or twice."

The surrounding villagers gasped, and several people began to back hurriedly away. The buzz of frantic chatter increased, and now everyone was pointing at Maui, not at the sea. Maui gritted his teeth and looked down at his own hands for a moment, obviously and uncharacteristically embarrassed. Moana frowned.

"He's a little tired," she went on calmly, "because he just pulled an entire island out of the sea to save it from being destroyed in a huge flood. Do you think we could find somewhere for him to lie down for a bit and get his breath back while I go talk to the village council?"

Moana's father took a quick, sharp look at Maui, then at his wife, and then out at the terrified people of Motunui.

 _Please, Dad,_ pleaded Moana silently, _please be cool about this, just this once, for me? I…I really need your help on this one. Please._

Moana's Dad paused, and took a deep breath.

"It is…a honor," said the former Chief Tui quietly, nodding, "to have you visit our humble village, Maui of the Wind and Sea. Thank you for protecting our daughter, and for saving our island. We are forever in your debt."

Unexpectedly, and rather slowly due to his old injuries, Moana's Dad knelt down in the sand and bowed his head before the demigod. Maui looked genuinely startled, and when he opened his mouth to reply, nothing came out.

Moana's Mom smiled her brightest, most welcoming smile and quickly followed suit, kneeling alongside her husband. One by one, still muttering, with their eyes fixed on their former chief, the villagers of Motunui all knelt and lowered their heads.

Trying not to show her immense relief, Moana collapsed to her knees as well, leaving Maui standing alone in the midst of his supplicants.

"Uh, y-you don't need to do that," he mumbled, shaking his head. "Really, it's…I mean, you're welcome. Really. Please…please get up. I'm um, glad to be here. Very glad. You could say I'm a…big fan of your Chief."

He swayed a little on his feet, and Moana's Mom was instantly up on again and at his side, slipping her arm underneath his and steering him over towards Moana's house.

"You must be exhausted," she murmured sympathetically. "It just so happens that I've got a freshly made bed all put together just waiting for an overtaxed hero like you. Come on, let's get you inside."

Moana's Mom looked over and shared a quick, knowing glance with her husband before ushering Maui hastily along the path towards home.

Moana started after him, but her Dad shook his head.

"Moana," he reminded her, "the council is waiting."

Maui turned and gave Moana a half-hearted attempt at one of his overconfident grins.

"Go lead your people, Great Chief Moana," he assured her teasingly, full of almost believable bravado. "I'll be fine. See you later."

With that, Maui and Moana's Mom disappeared into the house, leaving Moana to follow her father into the council chambers where the Tohunga and the rest of the elders waited.

They were sitting around on woven mats in a careful semicircle that had once intimidated the heck of Moana, back when she'd first become Chief. There wasn't a single other person in the room anywhere close to her own age, and only two of the village council beside herself were women. Still, these were all people whom Moana had known from the day she was born, and some of them had helped raise her. The fisherman on the far right had helped her reel in her first big catch, and the woman way in the back was her mother's sister, an aunt who had taught her to cook sweet potatoes just the way her Dad liked them best.

Moana knew these people, her people, and as she looked around at their worried faces, she knew that right now, more than anything, it was her duty to help calm their fears.

Before she even opened her mouth to begin speaking, however, everyone had questions.

"Is it true?" An ancient fisherman wanted to know. "Did you really travel to Rarohenga? Did you see her? Is she as beautiful as they say, in person?"

Moana's aunt had other concerns. "How are we supposed to catch fish if we can't even get down to the beach? It'd take days to navigate those cliffs. What will we eat? What will we do now?"

"Maui," murmured a bald coconut farmer, shaking his head. "I don't get it…is he the real thing? But…but I thought he was just a legend. I mean, old Tala always said that the tales were true, but-!"

"How could you bring him here?" A sharp-voiced grandmother scowled at Moana, crossing her arms and glaring. "He brings nothing but destruction and trickery wherever he goes, and YOU should know that best of all! What will he do to us, now that he's found our island?"

The questions went on and on, coming in from all sides until Moana's head was spinning.

"Please," she began, "please, listen! I…I don't know what we're going to do about the fish, and I…well, yes, okay, the stories are true, and I do understand your concerns, but…hey, is anyone listening to me? Please, everyone, let me-!"

" _Enough._ " Moana's Dad's voice cut through the rising tide of chatter, quieting the room in an instant. Even the angry grandmother fell resentfully silent, still pursing her lips and gazing doubtfully between Moana and her Dad.

"Your Chief is speaking," muttered Moana's Dad, shaking his head. "You would do well to listen instead of behaving like a bunch of frightened chickens."

He turned to Moana, nodded at her, gave her the floor.

Moana cleared her throat and straightened up, uncomfortably aware that no matter how hard she tried, she probably couldn't top her father's impressive stage presence.

"Listen, everyone," she began. "I know this is a tight spot. I know how much of a mess we're in, and no, no, I don't know exactly how we're going to get out of it."

The murmurs began again, but Moana refused to be deterred.

"Yes" she said, "I did go down to Rarohenga, and I did meet Hine-nui-te-po. The sea is furious because Hine-nui-te-po is angry, and the only way that we're going to get our lives back is by finding a way to calm that anger. I don't know exactly what to do, but I make you a solemn oath that I WILL find a way to please the goddess and to appease the ocean. I will do whatever it takes, even it means going back a hundred times to the realm of the dead to make sure that we can keep living our lives in peace, the way we always have, partners with the water, no longer afraid of the ocean. Once the sea's anger is abated, Maui can put the island back where it was, after all. This is just…temporary. We're going to be fine."

If she was being honest with herself, Moana had to admit that she wasn't completely sure Maui could do that. Still, it made sense that if he could pull the island up, he could probably figure out how to push it back down. She decided to worry about that later.

 _We'll cross that line when we get to it,_ she assured herself. _First things first; how to calm down the ocean._

"I brought Maui back with me," she said quickly, hoping her face didn't give away how uncomfortable this half-truth made her feel, "because if anyone can help us to reason with Hine-nui-te-po, then it's him."

"He's the one who got us into this mess in the first place," snarled the angry grandmother. "If it weren't for his trickery, then-!"

"Yeah," agreed the old fisherman. "I've heard the stories, haven't you? Old Tala used to tell the tale of how Maui the demigod cruelly tricked the goddess of the dead into falling in love with him just so that he could steal from the realm of the dead! How are we supposed to trust a guy like that? What's he supposed to do to help us?"

 _Well,_ thought Moana, annoyed, _for starters, he did kinda save all your lives just now. Have you forgotten already?_

"He's a thief and a heartbreaker," agreed the grandmother. "We don't want his kind in our village, divinity or no divinity. He's nothing but trouble!"

 _Do you even know what he tried to steal?_ Moana could feel her face starting to get hot as she struggled to keep control of her temper. _He went to Rarohenga to get the secret to immortality. He didn't do it because he was bored, or because he was greedy, or because he wanted riches from the deep or anything like that, he-!_

"He did it for you!" The words tumbled out of Moana's mouth before she'd even realized she was shouting aloud. "He wanted to steal it for you, for me, for all of us! Don't you understand? It was supposed to be a gift…the gift of living forever, of never having to deal with the death of a loved one, ever again! He wanted something wonderful…for all of us. That's all. How can you blame him for a selfless act like that?"

For a moment, it was silent again in the council chamber.

"All he wanted was the fame and fortune," muttered the old fisherman, shaking his head. "Can't trust a demigod; can't trust him at all. How could he even think to understand us? I know the stories, I know the truth!"

The grandmother nodded, and then everyone was whispering and snarling things about what they'd heard from the old legends, things about horrible crimes Maui had committed or had supposedly committed in the days thousands of years ago, when the world had first begun. Moana heard echoes all around her of the tales her grandmother had told, and she wondered, not for the first time, how much of it was true, and how much was invented. How cruel and merciless had Maui really been? After all, over thousands of years, didn't stories get embellished over and over again?

"More giant crabs every time," she muttered to herself, shaking her head and remembering how her own mother kept changing the story of her adventure to Te Fiti.

"Moana." Moana's Dad gave her a stern look, and Moana took a deep breath.

"Everything's going to be fine," she assured the council, trying to speak with confidence that she suddenly no longer felt. "I promise you, I won't allow our people to be lost to the sea. Please, just give me a few days to come up with a plan for how I am going to appease Hine-nui-te-po. In the meantime, we have our crops, we have our homes, we have each other. We're in no present danger, and we have Maui to thank for that. Leave it to me, and I'll get everything back to normal in no time. I promise."

No one looked entirely convinced, but Moana couldn't blame them. She subsided, taking a seat against the wall as the council continued to discuss Maui's crimes and the village's inevitable doom amongst themselves.

Even Moana's father looked extremely worried, and Moana's heart sank as she watched the look on his face. Not a single one of them had the confidence in her that she needed them to have, and worse, they were all dead-set against Maui.

 _Okay,_ she reasoned with herself, _so they've got a point. He did kind of…break a goddess's heart, almost destroy the village and possibly the world, and turn our island into an isolated mountain that we can't get down from. I get it, he's had some bad moments, but…but without him, we'd all be lost to the ocean. I'd be…well, I'd never even have made it this far. I'd be a crab snack, or a bit of sand at the bottom of the sea, or…or just really, really lonely. Of all the people I've ever met, Maui understands how it feels to be a fish out of water, to need more, to want things you can't have, to never be satisfied. He's so human, at times, it's easy to forget that he's not one of us…and that maybe he never will be. I guess…I guess maybe he can't be. Maybe everyone's right. Maybe he doesn't belong here._

She remembered what he'd said to her out on the boat, that unexpected moment of vulnerability that had made her chest hurt. He'd told her then that even after the heroic trip to Te Fiti and back, the people of Motunui would never accept him. Moana hadn't wanted to believe him.

"Maui was right," she mumbled, sighing inwardly. "For us humans, no matter what, it's never enough."

* * *

 **Author's End Note:** Hah! It's not even midnight and I've finished my first draft. I bet I'll get this out with time to spare.

A question for all of you, if you don't mind; are there other places you go to read fanfiction? I'm familiar with FFnet and Ao3, but other than those two, I've been out of the loop for so long that I wouldn't know where to go. Please, if you have a favorite fanfiction site other than the ones I've mentioned, I'd really appreciate it if you'd let me know. Thank you so much!


	13. Chapter Twelve

**Author's Note:** GUYS guys guys guys heeeeeey, I have to tell you something! One of my incredibly fantastic readers was kind enough to draw a fanart inspired by this story!

You can check it out after at .com, on the "Mercy's Blog" page. Please do go check it out, and follow the link to **Tabakerko** 's portfolio, too. There's some beautiful work, there, worth more than one look.

Okay, okay. I'll write a chapter now, I really will, but I just…I'm really excited about this art.

Okay.

Anyway.

Back to the story. I got this.

* * *

 **Chapter Twelve**

Maui wasn't sure how long he slept. The warm bed was just a little too small, and he kept waking up in the dark, wondering for an alarming moment where he was before remembering, taking a deep breath and passing out cold again.

When he finally did open his eyes for good, he still felt a little dazed and achy, but he found that he could sit up straight without terrible muscle spasms. Moana was seated in a chair across from him against the wall, chewing angrily on her lip and frowning fiercely into empty space.

"So," muttered Maui sarcastically, "I take it everything went well with the council, huh?"

"Ugh," groaned Moana, sounding immensely frustrated. "I mean, yeah, it went…fine. It's all fine. It's not like I let them throw you out of the village or anything."

"So…they did try," muttered Maui, wincing. "Yeah, well, it's not like I didn't see that coming." He sighed. "Look, Moana, maybe it'd be better if I got out of here. Having me around doesn't seem like it's gonna make your life any easier, and I don't really want to start anything, not right now, anyway, so-!"

"What?" Moana's eyes widened. "No way! You're not going _anywhere._ You have to put the island back in the sea, remember?"

Now it was Maui's turn to stare. "Right…right now?"

"Huh? No, of course not," mumbled Moana. "I mean, after we've made up with Hine-nui-te-po and appeased the anger of the sea, obviously, right? We'll have to put the island back, so my people can get to the ocean again."

Maui just shook his head, impressed despite himself. "You really aren't gonna give up on this. You think you're still gonna calm down the sea?"

Moana subsided a little. "I…well, of course I am," she said, with just a bit less enthusiasm and gusto. "I have to, I mean…there has to be something I can do. My people need me."

Maui grinned.

"That's our Moana," he chuckled. "Why am I surprised? I should have known you weren't a quitter."

Moana just rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, I guess," she told him, "but just saying 'I have to fix this' isn't much in itself. I mean, you should have seen the way they looked at me in the council chamber when I told them that I didn't know what we were going to do. You could almost taste the disappointment in the air, and everyone just looked at my Dad like he was going to have the answer. I couldn't even get them quiet by myself, so he had to command the room for me, or whatever. Maybe…maybe I'll never be the Chief that they need, but-!"

"But," interrupted Maui, "you're the one that they've got, and frankly, if you ask me, they're lucky to have you. Maybe you don't have all the answers yet, okay, but, hey, at least you're trying. You got your heart in it, like always." He shrugged. "Wouldn't be you without that reckless kiddy enthusiasm of yours."

"Hey!" Moana glared at him. "It's not 'kiddy,' it's-!"

"I bet none of them made any helpful suggestions anyway," Maui went on. "I mean, other than 'let's drive Maui off Motunui, or send his head back to Hine-nui-te-po on a plate,' or something."

Moana winced. "No one…actually said anything like that last one," she mumbled. "Not…not in so many words, anyway."

 _It got close though, didn't it,_ thought Maui, his heart sinking. _Yep, I can see it in your eyes. Mortals; they never cease to disappoint me. Then again, it's not like I can make a good case for why this isn't my fault. It…it pretty much is my fault. There's, uh, no way around that one. But, hey, my intentions were…not…not honorable, exactly. Good? Sort of? Nevermind._

"Look," he said aloud, "what I'm trying to say is that you're absolutely, one-hundred-percent Chief material. Anybody who's willing to go diving into the realm of the dead, on a moment's notice, without a plan, to save her people from, literally, the queen of the zombies is exactly the kind of Chief I'd want if I were ever to go in for the whole villager thing. That's somebody you can count on to have your back, which is a big deal. Take it from a guy who always works alone; having an ally is huge. Your people can depend on you, and that's more than just something, that's everything."

Moana, startled, took a moment to respond.

"I…I didn't just go down there just to save my people, you know," she said slowly, after a while.

Maui shrugged. "Yeah, I remember. You had a debt to pay to some attractive troublemaker who saved your life a while back. Well, you can relax now, Moana. You and I are square. All debts are off. Deal?"

He reached out, offering a hand for her to shake, but Moana just stared at it, then planted her hands on her hips and glared at him.

"You know," she began hotly, "for a super powerful demigod, you can be awfully stupid sometimes."

Maui blinked. "Huh? What's that supposed to mean?"

"He's right, you know." Unexpectedly, Moana's Dad, Tui, walked through the open door and into the house, pausing to nod somewhat uncomfortably at Maui before crossing to sit by his daughter. "You did very well in there. People are frightened, but they are also encouraged by your determination. They may not show it, but they're proud of you, and you give them strength…just as I knew you would, Moana. You should be pleased."

"Thanks." Moana gave him half a smile. "I'd be a lot happier, though, if I had some idea how I was going to follow through on those promises I made…yeah, that'd be great."

Suddenly, she yawned, and looked a little embarrassed.

"S-sorry," she mumbled. "I guess I'm a little tired, too."

"No kidding," returned Maui. "I had to hold up an island, so you had to hold up an island AND the most powerful demigod in the world at the same time. I think it's your turn for a nap."

He grinned. Moana opened her mouth, shut it quickly, pursed her lips, and then tried again.

"Maybe," she began. "I would, except…you're kinda taking up all the space in my bed."

There was a brief pause while Maui processed that.

"I'm…wait, this is…this is YOUR bed?" He coughed, uncharacteristically embarrassed, and swung himself out of the bed as hastily and gracefully as he could. "W-well, hey, why didn't you say something earlier? Uh, anyway, it's all yours, now. Thanks for, um, the loan."

He and Moana just looked at each other, neither of them apparently quite sure what to say next.

"You know what," he said suddenly, wincing with the realization, "I bet the bed smells like sweat now, because-! Yeah, that's, uh, that's pretty gross. I am… really sorry about that."

"No! No, no no, no. Really, it's fine!" Moana's voice sounded just a little higher pitched than usual as she waved her hands frantically in front of her. "Don't worry about it! I'm just glad you're feeling better, haha. I mean…are you, actually, feeling better?"

"Oh yeah. Me? I feel great. Just like myself again. Good as new!" Maui nodded emphatically, making quickly for the door. "And I am going to go, right now, so that you can get a little bit of your Chiefly beauty rest, and I will see you…later! Yeah. Uh, sweet dreams!"

"I…don't know if that is such a good idea," muttered Moana, shooting a doubtful look at her father.

Tui nodded and got to his feet.

"It would be my privilege to show you around the island," he said, inclining his head politely in Maui's direction. "Or…what's left of it, anyway. If you would follow me, Maui of the Wind and Sea."

Maui gave Moana a frantic look.

"Oh…great! Well, doesn't that sound like fun." She didn't sound entirely convinced. "You two boys will probably have…well, so much to talk about!"

 _He's going to take me out there and try to set me on fire or something,_ thought Maui, sighing to himself. _He's waiting for Moana to be out of the way so that he can shove me off a cliff or try to feed me back to the sea. It's been nice knowing you, Moana, but something tells me that Hine-nui-te-po's merciless wrath is nothing in comparison to what your Dad'd do to some guy he thought was giving his little girl too much of a hard time. Yeah, we're going to have a LOT to talk about, that's for sure. Oh boy._

"Uh, thank you, sir," said Maui as deferentially as he could, forcing himself not to send Moana any more frantic danger signals with his eyes. "I would love to see the island. Yeah. I'm looking forward to it."

Taking a deep breath and without a backwards look, he followed Tui out of the house, feeling Moana's nervous eyes on his back as they went.

The former Chief of Motuui walked silently into the center of the village, with Maui trailing behind. There were a few women clustered together there, talking animatedly amongst themselves, but they all froze and the conversation died away as they noticed Maui approaching.

"Ah, Tui." One of the women, Moana's mother, Sina, detached herself from the group and came over to greet her husband, while the other women hastily dispersed. "Giving our guest a tour of the village? That's a nice idea. Where's Moana?"

"Resting at home," Explained Moana's Dad. "She's had a difficult day."

"I don't have any doubt about that," sighed Sina, shaking her head. "I'm trying to decide which one was more of an adventure; meeting the goddess of the underworld, or facing up to those crotchety elders. At the moment, I'm inclined to call it a draw."

"Hmm," murmured Tui noncommittally.

Maui cleared his throat.

"Excuse me, uh, sir…and ma'am. Look, I have a feeling I know what happened during the village council meeting, and I think I know what you brought me out here to tell me. You don't have to, I get it. I can be gone before she wakes up, no sweat. I don't…really, I don't want to give her any more trouble. You don't have to ask me twice."

He meant it sincerely, even if sincerity wasn't something that Maui was terribly used to, and Moana's parents must have seen it in his eyes.

"Oh, no you don't," cautioned Sina, pointing an admonishing finger at him., but smiling as she said it to take out the sting "You're not getting out of this mess that easily."

"Moana would be devastated if you left us," agreed Tui.

"Of course she would." Sina nodded. "She's always been something of a fan of yours, ever since she was a little kid. Her Grandmother, Tala, could quiet her down in an instant just by promising to tell her the story of 'How Maui snared the sun!' That was her favorite for years. If mother changed even the slightest little thing about the storytelling, Moana would always notice and call her on it and make her tell it again, correctly this time. They used to laugh quite a bit over your stories…" She wiped away a tear, shaking her head.

"I remember," murmured Tui, smiling to himself.

"Oh, and _I_ remember," Sina went on, with a mischievous glint in her eye, "a story that your mother Tala once told me about a little boy named Tui who, after listening to the story of "How Maui pulled up the islands," he crept out to the fishing boats one night and got himself into terrible trouble when he decided to start casting all the fish hooks into the water at the same time, to see if he could pull up a little island of his own. He was going to build a fort on it and hide there from his father, who wasn't very happy about the way he kept running down to the beach instead of paying attention to his lessons."

Surprisingly, Moana's father coughed and ever-so-slightly flushed.

"So," Sina went on, "Moana comes by it honestly, in the family way."

"On the subject of the ancient legends," began Tui hesitantly, "there was…well, a favor I wanted to ask of you, Maui. I'm aware that I'm imposing, and on a guest, at that, but-!"

Maui, who for thousands of years hadn't been in the habit of doing favors, said "no problem. You name it. After all, I owe you one. What can Maui, hero of men, do for the village of Motunui?"

He grinned, radiating the bravado and confidence that he was sure a powerful demigod should radiate, and Sina smiled.

"With the ocean so far away," she explained, "we're going to be eating coconuts and sweet potatoes for weeks. We're going to need some protein, or we're all going to start getting sick."

Maui just nodded and waved that away with one hand. "No problem, I got you covered. Some healthy, balanced, nutritious mortal meals, coming right up. Um, excuse me."

Ridiculously relieved, he turned on his heel and started towards the cliff that had once been Motunui's beach. He paused for a moment to get his bearings so, as not to get lost on the way back, and heard Tui and Sina talking in low voices, voices that probably only his legitimately superhuman hearing could pick up at this distance.

"You didn't have to tell him about the fishing boats," Tui was saying, gently admonitory.

Sina just laughed. "You should have seen the look on your face, and on his! Honestly, our trickster god seems like a nice enough young man, don't you think? A little awkward, maybe, and he does have a tendency to almost destroy the world, but you can tell that he's got a heart in there somewhere. That counts for a lot."

"Moana certainly thinks so," muttered Tui dryly.

"Moana's a smart girl," Sina reminded her husband. "She's remembered something very important about Maui that I think all our wise, cautious village elders have completely forgotten; she remembers that a demigod is part god, and part _human._ Humans, just like all of us, are prone to making mistakes…"

They headed off together back towards their own home, leaving Maui feeling warm and confused inside, staring down at the sea.

* * *

 **Author's End Note:** I have to get up early tomorrow to take a client of mine to the hospital (this is not part of my job description, but sometimes my authors become personal friends.) I had to take the day off work to do that, so after I get home from the hospital I'll be able to write a little bit more. I'm looking forward to that.


	14. Chapter Thirteen

**Author's Note:** Sorry for the late update. I'd hoped to have two chapters out today, since I theoretically had the whole day to myself…but unfortunately, the morning did not go as I had hoped. I'm afraid the hospital trip was not a success.

You don't want to hear about that, though; you want to read fanfiction, and so let's get right to it, shall we?

* * *

 **Chapter Thirteen**

Moana woke up uncomfortable after a couple hours of fitful sleep. Everyone else was gone.

She found her mother outside at the hearth, preparing the already steaming earth oven for dinner.

"Ah," Moana. "Mom smiled and got up as her daughter approached. "Feeling better? I thought you'd have wanted to sleep a little longer. Your father's still out; dinner won't be ready for a little while, yet. If you think you're up to it, would you mind getting me some of the washing? I left it next to the bed; didn't want to disturb you, but I'd better get started on it, or we're all going to smell like three-day-old mold by tomorrow morning. Can't have that."

"Uh…yeah, sure." Moana took a quick look around. "No problem, but…where IS Dad? And, uh…where's Maui?"

Moana's Mom opened her mouth to respond, but at that moment, the familiar, triumphant cry of a hawk came from somewhere over near the beach.

"Ah," said Moana's Mom, nodding. "I think that's him, now."

Moana turned just in time to see Maui, in the form of a giant hawk, gliding into the village with a huge net in his claws, teeming with every color of shining saltwater fish. He circled once, cried out again, and then landed in the middle of the village square, depositing the fish neatly on the ground before spreading his great wingspan and transforming himself back into his human form with the help of his magical fishhook.

"Oven's ready," called Moana's Mom, nodding at him. "Goodness, that's a lot of fish...we'll have to dry some for later. Moana, don't just stand there staring. Go be useful, won't you?"

Maui turned and gave Moana a genuinely self-important grin, holding up the net full of fish.

For the first time since they'd gotten back to Motunui, he was looking and acting just like his old self. Moana felt something in her chest relax, and she smiled back at him.

"Wow," she said.

"Right?" Maui laughed. "Motunui is gonna feast tonight!"

 _A lot of these fish,_ thought Moana, sighing to herself, _are going to go to waste…but it was a nice idea, Maui, it really was._

All around the village, people were beginning to stop what they were doing to pay attention to Maui and his hoard of fish. The whispering and pointing began again, but this time, far fewer people were giving Maui dirty, deadly looks.

"Huh," snorted Maui, still grinning, completely in his element. "It's almost like they've never seen a giant demigod hawk before."

Moana rolled her eyes. "Let's just get some of these on the fire," she suggested, "before the birds come for them. I'm _starving."_

Just as Maui had predicted, there was a village-wide feast that night, with plenty of fish for everyone, and with several to spare once the meal had ended. Maui sat between Moana and her Dad, and helped to prevent wasted food by eating four or five helpings, before a stern look from Moana discouraged him from going in for a sixth.

"Hang on," she said. "Do demigods even need to eat? I thought you were immortal."

"Well, yeah, technically," returned Maui, shrugging and sneaking another whitehead fish into his bowl. "I mean, it won't _kill_ me to go without food, but it sure doesn't feel great. I get hungry. I get seriously hungry, and trust me, being your village's go-to hero today has worked up an appetite. What's the problem, anyway? There's plenty."

"People," Moana informed him, "are starting to stare."

To be fair, she had to admit to herself, they had been staring ever since he'd arrived, or rather, they'd been glaring. Now, at least, some of the villagers of Motunui were slowly starting to abandon anger and distaste in favor of plain old human curiosity.

Moana's aunt Whetu was the first to get up the courage to speak to the dangerous demigod villain who had haunted their people's stories since long before Moana had been alive. She had been sitting across from him with an empty bowl for some time, frowning, obviously trying to decide if she wanted to ask the question or not.

"Is it true," she began hesitantly, "that you have four brothers?"

"Hmm? Oh yeah." Maui swallowed his fish and nodded. "And they're all named 'Maui,' too. That, uh, could get pretty confusing when I was growing up, let me tell you."

"Do they all eat like you?" Whetu was now shaking her head at Maui's empty bowl. "If that's the case, then I feel badly for your poor mother."

The older man sitting next to Whetu snorted a laugh, then caught himself, cleared his throat, and carefully rearranged his face into a glare again.

Maui, at least, had the good grace to look slightly embarrassed.

Moana, on the other hand, was surprised. She'd never heard anything before about Maui having any family, other than the parents who had thrown him into the sea. Then again, the more she thought about it, the more she was sure that her grandmother had mentioned something about there being brothers along on his boat when he'd first pulled the islands out of the sea. She hadn't spent much time dwelling on them, though; after all, they weren't the heroes of that story. Moana considered asking Maui about his brothers, but decided that right here, in the middle of dinner with all the village around probably wasn't the right time or place. She'd have plenty of opportunity later, after all.

"So…how about the fish hook?" Whetu's teenage son, Rangi, pointed almost accusingly at the hook which was never far from Maui's hand. "What can you really turn into? Can you really be a shark? Because my Mom says that-!"

"Tell you what," suggested Maui, grinning mischievously. "How about I show you?"

Moana put a hand on the fishhook before Maui had a chance to grab for it.

"Not here," she said. "How about we just eat dinner for now, and we can play with the magical hook later, okay?"

Maui rolled his eyes at her.

"You're just jealous," he said, "that _you_ can't turn into a giant shark. Am I right?"

"No," replied Moana patiently. "Can't say I've ever particularly wanted to be a giant shark, or a giant whale, or a giant hawk, for that matter. I'm perfectly happy being me."

"As well you should be," mumbled someone amid the crowd of villagers. "As if magic and nonsense of that kind ever did anyone any good."

Moana and Maui both glared in the direction of the voice. It had apparently come from the angry old grandmother, Aroha, who didn't look like she'd touched any of her fish, and whose expression was just as sour as it had been when Maui had first arrived in the village.

"You just can't please some people," sighed Maui, under his breath. "I could tell you, like, five, no, ten super important things that you wouldn't have if it hadn't been for what you call 'magic.' The sun, for example. Your home. Your dinner. There are…so many options, here."

Moana gave him a comforting little pat on the hand. "Don't let it get to you. Have some more fish."

"Hey, Moana." Rangi apparently had another question.

Whetu gave him a sharp look. "Rangi, she's your Chief, remember? Please use your manners."

Rangi sighed. "Hey, Chief Moana," he drawled. "Is it true that you and Maui defeated, like, fourteen giant crabs with just your bare hands a fish hook? Seriously?"

Moana glanced over at her mother, and then at Maui.

"Um…no comment," she said.

"Hey, I wouldn't look like that if I were you, uh, Rangi," said Maui, raising an eyebrow and grinning. "Your Chief's pretty fierce. If I'm remembering things right, which I usually do, then I'd say it was more like twenty giant crabs…and a really evil-looking starfish."

Moana's eyes went wide. "Maui!"

Maui just laughed.

Later that night, after most of the village had gone back to tend to their own homes, Moana finished cleaning up after the meal and then went looking for Maui.

She found him seated by the path that had once led down to a beach, sitting and staring over at the ocean far below.

"Things look pretty calm out there, now," he told her when she sat down beside him. "I didn't have any trouble earlier, when I went fishing. It's gotta be exhausting, being angry all the time. Maybe the ocean's taking a break."

"Or maybe," suggested Moana, sighing, "it's gone off to terrorize someone else's island."

Maui shook his head. "Not likely; not while I'm camping out here. As long as Hine-nui-te-po knows where I am, she'll be coming for me. My being here isn't making any of you any safer, Moana; you have to know that."

Moana thought about giving him a speech, about explaining that it didn't matter one way or another, because she wasn't going to let him go back out there just to get drowned on the sea or dragged back down to where his angry ex-lover was waiting to kill him. Other than keeping him on the island, she couldn't think of any better options, at the moment, even if this wasn't exactly an ideal situation.

Instead, she said aloud, "Maui, I didn't know that you had any other family. How come you never talk about your brothers?"

Maui shrugged. "They're dead. Been dead for thousands of years. Not much to talk about, there."

"Oh." Moana felt a little stupid. "So, then, they were mortals, like your parents."

"Yeah," muttered Maui. "I mean, it's not like I ever knew them very well. We didn't grow up together. They were the ones my parents decided to keep; the ones apparently not ugly enough to end up at the bottom of the sea, like I did. They were older than me, too. By the time I made it back to my birth parents, I was already a teenager, and my oldest brother was already married with a couple of kids. They didn't have a lot of time for me, and the whole gift-from-the-gods thing made them a little jealous, I guess. Nobody was that interested in having me around, so it's not like I miss them, if that's what you're worried about. I barely knew them."

"But…I thought you didn't know your birth parents at all," began Moana carefully. "If you went back to them when you were a teenager, then-!"

"You're lucky, you know," interrupted Maui. "You've got a pretty nice family. I like your Mom a lot; she's got a sense of humor. Your Dad fits the definition of the word 'Chief" better than pretty much anybody I've ever met, too. The mans' got style. They're, uh, decent people, and they're proud of you. Yeah…you're really lucky. I'm glad."

Moana felt guilty, even though she was sure she didn't have anything she ought to feel guilty about.

"I…think the villagers are starting to warm up to you," she said, subtly shifting the topic away from happy and unhappy families. "That was pretty smart of you, going fishing and feeding everybody like that. I mean, the way to a man's' heart is usually through his stomach, right? So-!"

"It wasn't my idea," replied Maui. "It was your Dad's."

"Oh." Taken aback, Moana had to think about that for a moment.

 _Dad really is trying to help Maui find a place here,_ she realized. _Mom, too. He's right about one thing; I am lucky. My family is…well, they've always been everything to me. I wonder what life would have been like if I'd been alone? Ugh…I don't ever want to have to find out. Even at times when it's felt like they just don't really get me, they've…well, they've always been there for me to come home to. I don't think I've ever told them how important that is. Maybe…maybe I should._

"We gotta do something about the ocean," muttered Maui, "and fast." He was glaring at it now, looking frustrated, and, instinctively, Moana rested her hand on his again, the way she'd done at dinner. This time, though, it lingered.

"Your people have done me a real solid, Moana," said Maui. "I don't want to make their lives any harder. I'm done being the villain in this story, at least for now. Let's do it; let's save the world. Tell me you've got a plan, wayfinder."

Moana nodded. She'd been thinking about it almost nonstop ever since dinner, and she had, in a way, come up with something.

"I do," she told him, "but it's not going to be easy."

Maui snorted a laugh.

"Of course it isn't," he said, shaking his head. "Okay, I'm all ears. Let's hear this plan."

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

I started a Wattpad! I'm…still sort of figuring out how it works, but I'll get there. Thanks for the suggestions!

Since Moana is a relatively new fandom, I assume that some/most of you are part of some other fandoms as well. What other fandoms do you all read/write? I'm eager to find some of your work and check it out.


	15. Chapter Fourteen

**Author's Note:** Happy Hannukkah, and Merry Christmas to anyone who celebrates. I don't, myself; I'm Jewish, and my family tends to celebrate on the latter half of the holiday, but my husband is Catholic, and so we spent the morning with my nieces and nephew, which was very nice.

I know that not everybody enjoys or has positive experiences/memories of the holiday season. I think a lot of us tend to turn to fandom when we're looking for a comforting place to go in difficult times, so if you're struggling with the ugly truth of not being happy during "the happiest time of the year," I hear you and I'm still listening. Feel free to shoot me a message, and we'll stay up late and chat about Moana while our religious friends ring in the Christmas whatever at midnight.

…and with that, here's some fanfiction.

* * *

 **Chapter Fourteen**

"All of this talk about my parents," Moana told Maui, "has got me thinking about families. I've always had my Mom and Dad, and they've always been there to rein me in when I've gone too far, or to calm me down when I've gotten so excited that I'm about to get myself into some _serious_ trouble. If it hadn't been for my Dad, I'd probably have drowned long before I even made it to age sixteen, although I…would really rather he not know that I said that, so please don't tell him."

Maui just raised an eyebrow at her. "Your secret's safe with me."

"Great, agreed Moana, hurrying on. "Anyway, I was thinking about all this, and then I realized; what we're trying to do is impossible."

Maui looked surprised. "Wait, that's…okay, that's not what I was expecting you to say. I thought you said you had a plan."

"I do," agreed Moana. "It's just that I think, at this point, our plan needs to involve asking somebody else for help, because we're just not the right people for this job. We can't help Hine-nui-te-po, because…well, listen, when you're angry, or scared, or sad, or upset, who do you go to for help? You go to someone you trust, right?"

Maui just gave Moana a blank look. "I, uh, wouldn't know much about that. Lone wolf, remember?"

"O-oh." Moana opened her mouth, closed it, then shook her head and tried again. "Well, okay. That's what I would do, anyway. If we're going to stop Hine-nui-te-po from destroying the world, or calm the ocean's anger against the islands, then we need help from someone who's going to matter to them. We need someone who they're actually going to listen to. We can't do this alone, or, just the two of us. We aren't enough."

Maui considered that for a moment, then shrugged. "Okay, I see your point. It's a cute theory, but-!"

"Maui," interrupted Moana, "you know all about the gods and the ancient legends. I mean, you were there for a lot of them, right?"

"Jeez, you're making me sound like some old man," muttered Maui defensively, but Moana wasn't really listening.

"Who would be the person," she went on urgently, "that Hine-nui-te-po would trust the most? I'm pretty sure Grandma once told me something about a father and a mother, so what if we-?"

"No." Maui cut her off, shaking his head emphatically. "No way, absolutely not. Let me put it like this, Moana; Hine-nui-te-po and her father do NOT get along for some pretty uncomfortable reasons, and getting him involved in this, assuming we could even find him, wouldn't help, not at all. Actually, it'd probably make the whole thing worse."

Moana deflated a little.

"Okay," she said, chewing unhappily on her lip. "Then, her mother, maybe?"

"Maybe even worse," Maui assured her. "Hine-nui-te-po's father was also her first husband. Her mother was the, uh, 'other woman,' if you want to put it like that. It gets complicated, and frankly, I don't want to know any more about the mechanics than I already do, so I've pointedly never asked."

Moana's jaw dropped. "Wait…WHAT?"

"Yeah," agreed Maui. "Exactly."

For a moment, Moana was silent, trying to figure out how to best respond to that revelation.

"The gods are, um…they have a lot going on, huh?" She sighed. "I guess there are some really good things about being human. Why do I get the sense that human relationships are a lot less complicated?"

Maui snorted a laugh. "That's another thing that I really wouldn't know much about. You've already stumped me twice today, Moana; I'm impressed. That's not easy to do to a demigod who's been around since the dawn of humanity. Anything else I can help you with?"

"Okay, okay." Moana waved that away with one dismissive hand. "In that case, let's try looking at this from another angle. If Hine-nui-te-po doesn't have any family to turn to, then what about…the sea?"

Maui appeared to consider that for a moment.

"Hah." He shook his head and gave her an incredulous little smile. "Okay…now there, you might have something. The sea's actually got a mother; the same mother as the land, and all of the islands you mortals have settled on. We shouldn't have a hard time finding her; in fact, you two already know each other."

Moana gasped.

"Te Fiti," she whispered.

"That's right." Maui nodded. "They say that, long ago, before even I was around to take notes, the ocean flowed out of the top of Te Fiti's head, to flood an island where another goddess lived who'd tried to steal her husband. Nobody's ever said which island it was; the whole thing probably ended up underwater, anyway. Nobody even knows who the other goddess was. She probably decided to stay incognito after that. I mean, who would want to be famous for having destroyed an entire island, right?" Maui winced, and Moana decided that she didn't have to draw the parallel for him.

"So…it sounds like Te Fiti and Hine-nui-te-po have some things in common, then," she muttered. "They both like flooding islands when they're angry."

"Yeah," agreed Maui, "but, look on the bright side. Te Fiti already likes you. She's more powerful, and she's been doing the island-flooding thing for longer. Having her on our side would definitely put an ace in our corner. Its…not exactly a bad idea."

"Not exactly?" Moana frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well," explained Maui, "for one thing, in order to get to Te Fiti, we're going to need to sail across an ocean, which, in case you'd forgotten, is absolutely determined to kill us the very next chance it gets. That could be a problem. Plus, all the boats were smashed up in the flood. No canoe, no can do."

"I've already thought about that," said Moana triumphantly. "We could fly to Te Fiti!"

Maui's mouth opened a little in surprise. "Uh."

"You could carry me there," insisted Moana quickly, "as a hawk. I know we couldn't make the trip all at once; you couldn't just fly straight there from here, not carrying a human, but it'd mean that we wouldn't have to risk the sea, so it'd be much safer in the long run, even if it took a little extra time."

"Uh…no." Maui just shook his head. "That is possibly the craziest thing you've ever suggested, and that's saying something, considering it's you we're talking about. Moana, you'd die if you fell from a height like that. It's not even a 'maybe.' You'd either die by drowning, or you'd die by having every bone in your body crunched on the rocks. It wouldn't work."

"I'll be fine," retorted Moana, "as long as you don't drop me. Just be extra careful, and-!"

"I can't be careful enough to take that risk," interrupted Maui flatly. "I could sneeze, or a gust of wind could come up suddenly, or a flock of birds could fly by, or it could rain. Stuff happens when you're flying; I can't promise that there's no way I wouldn't get distracted and let go. I'm not a passenger hawk; this isn't something I've done before, and I'm not going to try it with you. Don't ask me again; I'm not doing it."

The look on Maui's face was so uncharacteristically set and stern that Moana was surprised.

"O…kay," she said carefully. "Well, in that case, I guess you could fly to Te Fiti by yourself and ask her."

"Still not a good idea,' muttered Maui. "She doesn't particularly like me. I'm the guy who turned her into a fire-breathing volcano creature in the first place, remember? You're the heroine, here. If anyone's going to persuade her to meddle in the mortal world, then it's you, not me."

"Nngh!" Moana was starting to get frustrated. "You're not actually making any suggestions, you know; you're just disagreeing with everything I say! How is that helping?"

Maui was unperturbed by her annoyance.

"Sorry to spoil your party," he said dryly, "but I'm trying to take this seriously, for once. I like the first part of the plan; the part where we get someone else to help bail us out of this mess before it gets any more nuts around here. I _don't_ love the part where either you get yourself killed by falling to your death, or I go there alone and find out that she's not even willing to help. Strong beginning, weak finish, you get what I'm saying? Come up with a way of actually getting both of us to Te Fiti, and I'm all ears."

Maui fell silent while Moana wracked her brains for a solution. The expectant way he was watching her didn't the situation any less stressful.

"We could…build a new canoe," she said hesitantly, after a bit of thought.

"Your people aren't boat builders," Maui reminded her. "Sure, you can make those little fishing boats of yours, but those won't do for a long-distance voyage across the open ocean. You'd be overturned before you were halfway to Te Fiti."

Defeated at last, Moana gave up. Her shoulders sagged.

"Okay," she sighed. "Forget it, this was stupid. I'll…I'll think of something else, a better plan."

 _It's just,_ she thought desperately, _that I was so sure this would work. I mean, what else IS there?_

"I, on the other hand," said Maui slowly, "do know a little bit about boats. Now, I'm not promising you anything, so don't get excited, but I'd be willing to give the whole canoe-building thing a shot. I'd need a few different kinds of wood, and a bunch of materials that aren't so easy to come by, but if you could get me those things, then-agh!"

Without really stopping to think about it, Moana had flung her arms around Maui's neck before he'd even finished his sentence.

"I _knew_ I could count on you," she declared, squeezing him a bit too tightly before releasing him and sitting back down hard on the sandy ledge. "Thank you. I'll get you everything you need, I promise. We can do this, I know we can!"

Maui looked stunned for a moment, started to say something, and then put his hand thoughtfully to his throat where Moana had clung to him.

"Knew you could count on me, huh?" He chuckled a little incredulously. "That's...well, it's something I never expected to hear. Hah. Feels, uh, pretty good, actually. I think I could get used to it."

Moana was already on her feet and heading back towards the village.

"Come on," she called over her shoulder to Maui. "We've got a lot of work to do. I remember seeing a totara tree yesterday that had been hit by lightning in a storm, probably. It'll be easy to chop it down without damaging the surrounding trees too much. I'll go ask Dad and Rangi if they'll help; it's a big one, and we'll probably need a few extra hands."

* * *

 **Author's End Note:** This chapter was almost entirely exposition and character development, with very little action or romance. Thanks for bearing with me. I promise you some faster-paced, more action-centric chapters as the week progresses, as well as a few more romantic moments as we get more and more into the Moana/Maui dynamic.

This story is proving a bit longer than I originally intended, and it may end up having a sequel. The story I want to tell has multiple facets and may be better served by two fics than by one, especially in terms of the romance. It's something I'm considering anyway. Would you be willing to read a two-part story, or a set of stories which included a sequel? I'm interested to hear your thoughts.


	16. Chapter Fifteen

**Author's Note:** Guys, I am SO sorry about the lack of updates over the last couple of days. I ended up rushing off to New York overnight to visit my grandmother (who is doing fine, so all is well), and I didn't take my computer with me, so I wasn't able to post. Thanks very much for your patience, and I will do my best to put out two chapters today to make up for the lapse!

* * *

 **Chapter Fifteen**

For once, Maui was true to his word. First thing the next morning, he let Moana drag him off to find the damaged totara tree. With Sina and Rangi's help, they chopped it down and carried it out in front of Moana's home, where Maui got to work on hollowing out the trunk to carve a canoe from the wood.

At first, he had more help than he was sure what to do with. Moana had a pretty strong idea of how to get started, as, she proclaimed triumphantly, she'd helped build several of the new fishing canoes that they'd needed over the last few years. Rangi wasn't much good at boatbuilding but he was strong and followed directions about as well as any teenage boy ever could. A few of Sina's friends from nearby houses brought carving tools that looked as though they hadn't been used in years, and one or two even contributed bowls of sweet potato or dried fish from last night's huge dinner.

Most the villagers, however, still kept their distance, although Maui did notice that several children were creeping closer and closer as the day went on, obviously itching to see what was really going on with the giant, new voyaging boat. Maui tried smiling at them, but as soon as he did, their mothers hurried them back inside or away from the boat-building project.

"Don't force it," suggested Moana, stifling a laugh. "You're scaring the kids."

"What?" Maui was a little disappointed. "I'm just smiling at them."

"You're nervous," explained Moana. "That 'smile' looks like a grimace of death. Don't worry about it, okay? After we stop the sea from raging, everyone in the village will be so grateful, you'll have a hard time keeping them away, whether you're friendly or not."

Maui sighed.

"I think you said something like that before," he muttered, "right before your council tried to have me thrown out of the village."

Moana bit her lip and winced. "Uh, that's true, but, well…. this time, I'm sure it'll work!"

Maui snorted a laugh and got back to his carving.

The weather, unfortunately, had other ideas about Maui and Moana's best laid plans. Just as Maui finished hollowing out the trunk, it began to rain. While Moana, under his direction, focused on cutting out the tailboard, it started to pour. The clouds came out, obscured the sun, and any helpful villagers left, one by one, returning to the safety of their homes. Before too long, Maui and Moana were crouched out in the downpour alone, working diligently, pushing wet hair out of their faces and blinking rainwater of their eyes as the skies rumbled.

After a while, Maui heard a clucking noise behind him, and then the sound of something drilling diligently against wood.

"Heihei," snapped Moana, "come on, knock it off! You're going to make holes in the tailboard."

Maui turned around and saw the chicken seated next to Moana, cocking its head at the work she was doing and, every now and then, hesitantly pecking at the wood. Moana gently grabbed him by the beak, turned him around, and gave him an affectionate little push, so that he wandered off obediently back towards the house.

"Hey, drumstick!" Maui grinned. "Long time no see. I was starting to worry that maybe they'd cooked you after all."

"Trust me," sighed Moana, "lots of people have suggested it. Oh, and here's Pua!"

A rather elderly black and white pig was waddling out of the house towards them. Moana scooped him up and carried him over to Maui, depositing him next to the boat. The pig oinked, looked up at Maui, and blinked.

"This," said Moana, by way of introduction, "is Pua. I don't believe you've ever met before."

Maui raised an eyebrow at Moana.

"You've got two animal sidekicks? Really." He shook his head. "Is that so you can have a spare if you end up eating one of them?

Moana glared. "Maui!"

Maui just laughed.

"I was just thinking," he began, "about what we should carve onto the sides of our new war canoe. What do you say, drumstick, pork chop? You guys think you'd make good voyage guardians?"

Snatching the smallest carving knife out of Moana's hand, Maui drew the hasty outline of a pig, and then of a chicken on the bottom of the canoe.

"Eh?" He grinned at Moana. "How about it?"

Moana stifled a laugh.

"Those are terrible," she told him. "That doesn't look anything like a chicken! It looks more like a... really messed up tree. Are those supposed to be legs?" She pointed to a place on the carving where two lines jutted out from a large circle.

"Uh, no." Maui was very slightly hurt. "That's the beak, obviously. Anyway, like you could do any better?"

Moana considered that for a moment, then smiled and shook her head. "No," she admitted, "probably not."

The rain was coming down even harder, now, and they were both completely soaked to the bone. Moana shivered, and drew her Chief's cloak a little tighter around her shoulders. The movement revealed, for just a moment, the manta ray tattoo across her left shoulder blade. Maui pointed at it.

"Hey, Moana," he said, gently mocking her. "How'd you get your tattoos?"

"Oh, I earned them," she said sweetly. "You know, the usual way, by lying on my face for hours at a time while my father and the Tohunga chiseled designs into my back, which is, by the way, exactly as painful as it sounds, oh Demigod of the Wind of the Sea." She shuddered. "You're lucky. Doesn't look it hurts too much when you get yours."

Maui made a face. "Yeah…. I think I'll stick to my way, if it's all the same to you."

He nodded at the manta ray on her shoulder. "What's that one for?"

Moana glanced down her nose at it. "Oh, that…that's my grandmother. I mean, my grandmother has a big manta ray tattooed on her back, and I think…okay, you're going to call me crazy, but I'm sure I saw her, once, out at sea, after she died. She always said she wanted to come back as a manta ray…and maybe she did. I think I she did. Haha, or…maybe I had sunstroke." She looked slightly embarrassed, coughed, and gave Maui a sheepish sort of smile.

Maui shook his head. "Nah, you're not crazy. Things like that happen all the time. Saw her in Rarohenga, didn't I? Your Grandma was a Turehu. She probably came up to the mortal world all the time…maybe as a manta ray. I bet that's when you saw her. It makes sense."

Moana looked surprised.

"I…I guess it does," she murmured, frowning to herself. "I'd never thought of it that way. I'd always wondered if maybe it was just a dream."

"Probably not." Maui shrugged. "She just wanted to see you, maybe check up on you. I bet she's proud of you, just like the rest of your family."

"You would have liked her," Moana assured him, "and she would have liked you."

"Oh, yeah?" Maui made a face. "The way I hear it, sounds like your Grandma did a great job at painting me as a villain in the eyes of your people."

Moana's eyes narrowed. "You did most of that yourself," she reminded him. "All Grandma ever did was-!"

"All she ever did," muttered Maui, "was tell stories. Funny, isn't it, how a reputation can get you into trouble? You think you want to be famous, and then it turns out that it's just infamy after all. Can't win, can I?" He sighed. "Nevermind, forget it. Let's not get serious, we're almost done here. I'm cold, and I'm wet, and I'm ready to crash."

"Fair enough," muttered Moana. "Me too."

She pushed a soaked lock of hair out of her eyes for probably the hundredth time, revealing the tattoo of fish hook over her left eye. Maui gazed at it for a moment, then swallowed, and asked the question.

"Hey, Moana," he said, startled by the way his chest tightened before he'd even finished forming the words, "what's, uh…what's THAT one for?"

He reached out and gently touched the fish hook tattoo with his forefinger. Moana shivered, and Maui reflected that, despite the cold and the damp, he was suddenly feeling uncomfortably warmer.

"Oh, um, th-this one?" Moana took a hasty step back, clearing her throat. "Well, haven't you heard the story of Chief Moana and the brave hero Maui, and how they saved the world? It's sorta my favorite story, and it's kiiiiinda important to my people, so I thought I thought I'd get a tattoo to commemorate it. Makes sense, right?"

Maui took a quick breath.

"So…that story about that hero guy," he said carefully, his voice coming out just a little more hoarsely than it usually did, which was weird. "Is it important to your people, or is it important to, uh…you?"

Moana waited a moment before responding.

"It's important to me," she said, very seriously. "It's…it's really important, Maui."

Maui wasn't sure how to respond. There were definitely some things he wanted to say, but he couldn't quite figure out what they were or how to phrase them. Mostly they were uncomfortable, very confused feelings happening somewhere in his chest, and in the strange and nervous way his face and hands were suddenly felt awkward and wrong.

He opened his mouth, cleared his throat, and said, "Um."

At that moment, a giant raindrop landed directly in Maui's eye.

"AGH!" He blinked frantically, momentarily blinded, and rubbed aggressively at his eye with his fingers. A rhythmic pecking sound informed him that Heihei had returned to trying to eat the tailboard of the canoe, and Moana sighed.

"Let's call it a night," she suggested. "We're almost done, and we can finish the rest in the morning."

"Y-yeah," agreed Maui, as vision finally returned. "Sounds good."

He watched as Moana laid down her tools, stretched, then gathered up Heihei and headed into the house with Pua at her heels.

"Dad said he's made up a bed for you," Moana told Maui, "although, we don't really have a lot of guests on Motunui, so we're not used to entertaining, and things are probably going to be a little tight. I hope that's okay. I mean, if it's not okay, it's not like I have a better solution, but…um, sorry. Maybe you'll get used to it?"

Maui reflected, before he could stop himself from having the dangerous thought, that, after thousands of years of being a lone ranger, he'd probably really enjoy getting used to this.

* * *

 **Author's End Note:** Huzzah for romance!

Next time on Whare Potae, we'll finally get Moana and Maui back on the sea and on an adventure to Te Fiti!

Oh, but in the meantime, **Tabakerko** has been kind enough to draw another fanart, this time of a scene from Whare Potae's Chapter Fourteen! You can find it at my website, , on the "Mercy's Blog" page. Please do check it out if you have a chance.

I'm going to go get some work done, but I'm hoping to update again later today before I have to go back to the office tomorrow…


	17. Chapter Sixteen

**Author's Note:** I'm sure you guys have seen the news today about Carrie Fisher. I'm usually the first person to admit that I'm unaffected by celebrity deaths, the deaths of people I genuinely didn't know, but I'm feeling weird about this one. I was a Star Wars nerd starting at age five, and my father and I used to spend a lot of time together with our Star Wars tapes (yes, cassette tapes were still a thing back then), and our Star Wars movies.

I'm an eleven-year survivor of traumatic brain injury, and so Carrie Fisher has been an icon of mine as I've grown up, too. She was a survivor, she was a fighter, she was an advocate, she was a believer, she was all the things that I sometimes struggled to be, that I had to be, that I had to pretend to be, that I wanted to be. She was a hero.

I think I am going to miss her. I think a lot of people are going to miss her.

Anyway, all of that to say, obviously, the Star Wars fandom is grieving right now, and if you're grieving, I hear you. I'm going to write a chapter, now, and I apologize in advance for any typos. It'll be a happy chapter. That'll be fun, right?

* * *

 **Chapter Sixteen**

Moana woke up the next morning to find Maui gone.

"He's finished off the boat and taken it down to the water already," her mother informed her. "I have to admit, I was impressed! He had us wrap that new canoe of yours in a bunch of ropes and fishing nets, and then he flew the whole thing down to the sea, carrying it in his claws!"

"Apparently," agreed her Dad, "it's true what they say about the demigod's inhuman strength."

"He's going to have sore shoulders for it, though," Mom observed, shaking her head. "I just hope it doesn't drag him into the sea and drown him. That canoe looked so heavy."

"What?" Moana was suddenly very awake. Rushing outside, she was just in time to see Maui, in hawk form, returning from his trip to the ocean. He looked a little bedraggled, but decidedly not drowned.

"Maui!" She waved him over, and he landed in front of the house, stretching out his wings and shaking them, almost as though they were sore, like Mom expected his human shoulders might have been. "Look at you, impressing the ladies again. How are you feeling?"

Maui dropped the fishhook he'd been carrying in his beak, let out a cry, and transformed himself back into a human again.

"Oh, I'm fine." He grinned. "Who'd I impress?"

"My Mom," Moana told him, "and she's not easy to impress, either…. trust me on that."

"Hah, I don't doubt it." He glanced back over at the house, looking pleased with himself. "Well, hey, it's always nice to be appreciated. You ready to get climbing? We don't want to waste the daylight. Probably shouldn't do too much climbing at night, assuming you want to make it down to the sea in one piece."

Moana was frowning at the pile of rope and fishing nets that were still tangled around Maui's legs.

"It'll take more than a day to climb down all that way," she reminded him. "We don't have that much time."

"We don't have any other options," retorted Maui. "The sooner we get started, the sooner we get…wait, what are you looking at? Stop looking at me like that. Why do I have a bad feeling about this, all of a sudden?"

Moana picked up a piece of rope and turned it thoughtfully over in her hands.

"You made a sort of basket out of these for the boat, right?" She tied and untied a quick, experimental knot.

"Sorta," said Maui. "More like a harness, honestly, and my back is killing me."

"So…" Moana looked innocently up at him. "If you could make a harness for the canoe, then maybe-!"

"NO." Maui cut her off before she she'd gotten halfway through the sentence. "No way, not a chance, not gonna happen. We've already been through this. I am not flying you anywhere."

"Aw, come on!" Moana held up the rope imploringly. "It's not that long a trip, okay? I'm just asking you to fly me down to the canoe, so that we can sail the rest of the way to Te Fiti. I won't be nearly as heavy as that boat was, and if we make a good harness, then there's no way I'll fall off, right? It'll be fine."

Maui stood his ground. "No can do. You're not going to die on this trip. Think how 'impressed' your Mom would be if I came back without you, huh?"

"If I fall off the mountain while I'm climbing down," Moana reminded him, "I'll fall just as far and I'll end up just as dead as I would if you dropped me from that height. It's actually less of a risk this way."

"Uh." That one seemed to have Maui temporarily stumped. "Look, Moana, it's not that I don't want to help, it's just-!"

Moana suddenly thought that she understood.

"What are you more afraid of," she asked, "my falling to my death, or you being the one who dropped me?"

"Ugh." Maui winced. "Why can't it be both?"

"Maui, listen," she told him, giving him an encouraging little pat on the shoulder. "I'm sure it'll be just fine. You can do this. I trust you."

"You're…you're only making it worse," mumbled Maui. "Ugh… Okay, go on, make the harness-thing. We're gonna test it a few times before we head for the sea, though, got it? We're doing laps around the village with you in that thing, and if that makes my shoulders hurt even more, I hope you at least have the decency to feel guilty about it."

"Yes!" Moana was delighted. "Oh, I will absolutely feel guilty!"

"Yeaaah…you sure look it," sighed Maui sarcastically. "On second thought, maybe I'd better tie the harness myself."

"Hey!" Moana snatched the rope away from him and glared. "You don't need to do anything. I'm great at knots, remember?"

They continued to argue while Moana tried a few different things with the available ropes and nets, but eventually she came up with something that even Maui couldn't completely discount. It was a harness that fastened around her waist and both of her legs, and which would tie her securely to Maui's back in flight. It wasn't comfortable, and it wasn't dignified, but it was definitely secure. Maui couldn't find fault with it, which didn't make him look any happier.

Mom and Dad didn't look particularly thrilled about it either, but they did their best at least not to look like they were about to panic at any moment, which Moana deeply appreciated. Dad even helped Moana tie herself to Maui's back, once he'd turned himself back into a hawk. Maui glared at her over his shoulder with his large, menacing black hawk eyes, but Moana pretended not to notice.

"Okay," she said when she was all strapped in, taking a deep breath and trying to calm the combination of excited and terrified nerves that were now fluttering around frantically in her chest. "We're all set to go. Don't worry, everyone; I'll be back before you know it! Ready, Maui?"

Maui made a doubtful face at her, which she recognized even on his hawk features. He gave a sharp cry, looked her directly in the eye as if to say, "it's now or never," and Moana hunkered down on his back, wrapping her arms around his neck and folding her fingers into his feathers. As soon as he felt that she was still and stable, he leapt into the air.

For a moment, all Moana could feel was terror and the rush of wind, and it was only after holding her breath for what felt like forever that she realized they weren't going that fast at all. Maui was only a few feet off the ground, and he was circling the village square while Moana's family and friends looked on, some with alarm and others with genuine astonishment. Moana silently thanked the gods that she wasn't prone to motion sickness.

Maui tried to look at her on his back, made an inquisitive little "cree" noise at her, and cocked his head to the left.

"Huh? Oh, y-yeah, I'm fine!" Moana tried to grin. "No problem at all! Piece of cake."

Maui's eyes glinted mischievously for a second, and then, before Moana could worry about what that meant, he suddenly sped up.

"EEK!" Moana clung to him as he raced around the square with all the speed and ferociousness of a fully-grown hawk in flight. She could hear the air sweeping by her, could barely see the sights and sounds all flowing together into one long stream of color and light and exhilaration and slight nausea.

She wasn't sure how long the trip lasted, but suddenly, it was over. Maui landed lightly on the ground, spread his wings for balance, then looked over at her again and made another, "cree" at her, this time sounding rather pleased with himself.

Moana, her hair all in her face and her mind whirling, had to lie still for a moment before she could find the words.

"That," she breathed finally, "that…that was AMAZING. I…I have never, EVER felt like that before. It was just so fast, and so…so fast, and the WIND! I could HEAR the wind! That was incredible! Can we do it again? Please? One more time? I promise I won't hold on so hard this time. I've got the hang of it now, really! Please, Maui? Pretty please?"

Maui blinked, then shook his hawk-head and gave her what she was sure was a tolerant smile.

Then, in a rush of wings and wind, he leapt off the ground, dashed forward, and dove towards the sea, with Moana screaming happily as her life turned into the greatest, most terrifyingly amazing thrill ride in the world.

* * *

 **Author's End Note:** Short chapter tonight, as I think this is a good place to leave off for the moment. Thanks for reading, and I look forward to following up with some more adventures tomorrow.


	18. Chapter Seventeen

**Author's Note:** Okay, fanfiction time. I am absolutely, ABSOLUTELY not allowed to look at any more sad Princess Leia art tributes on facebook. Strong nope, hard pass.

Let's start today off with a question about fandom romance. That's always fun, right?

I'm starting to really enjoy writing the dynamic between Moana and Maui. I honestly feel those two characters in the movie have some of the best chemistry that I've ever seen between two characters in a Disney film, so hopefully this romance I'm writing is going in a good direction.

Other than Moana and Maui, what is your favorite romantic pairing (any fandom), and why? Feel free to teach me about a pairing I've never heard of, I love those.

* * *

 **Chapter Seventeen**

It was, unfortunately, over before Moana was ready. In what felt like mere minutes, Maui closed the distance between the village and the ocean below, landing neatly in the canoe that was tied to some miraculously intact rocks on the beginnings of the new beach which the ocean had begun creating at the base of Mount Motunui. Startled and somewhat out of her depth, with the world still spinning around her, Moana lay still on Maui's back until she felt slightly more at ease with her newly stationary state. Then, she began clumsily trying to untie the ropes around her legs, but, still a little dizzy, she fumbled with the knots and had trouble getting them untangled.

Maui gave her a sharp look over his shoulder, then shrugged his wings, spread them out, and transformed back into his human form. Moana was left clinging to his back, piggy-back style, and what had, moments ago, been feathers abruptly became skin. Moana could hear his heart beating with her face pressed against his back like that, and it was an oddly comforting, grounding feeling, especially after the exhilarating ride. His skin was warm, too, probably from the exertion of the flight, and Moana's face flushed just as hot when she realized that she was too busy thinking about Maui's back, and not busy enough trying to untie her harness.

"S-sorry," she mumbled confusedly, pulling even harder on the knots.

"Here." Maui passed her a knife. "You, uh, sure you're okay? You sound a little out of breath. Too much for you? Hey, don't say I didn't warn you."

Hastily slashing at the rope around her waist, Moana freed herself from the harness and slid down into the boat.

"Wh-what are you talking about? I," she assured Maui, maybe just a little bit too loudly and quickly, "am absolutely FINE. Everything's great! I'm awesome. You're awesome! That…that was an awesome trip. We will, uh, have to do that again sometime…I mean, if you want. Wait, sorry, did that hurt? I'm not too heavy, am I? Actually, don't answer that, please. I probably don't want to know."

"You're light as a feather," Maui assured her loyally, "and if you weren't, I definitely wouldn't tell you." He grinned. "Let's just be glad you're not dead, okay? Now, you ready for the hard part?"

Moana looked out at the deceptively calm sea, aware that, the moment they set off from the shore, it was more than likely that the ocean would begin its onslaught. That hurt her, and somehow it hurt her more deeply, now, than it had when she'd been gazing down at the sea from the village above. Now, close to the water that had once been her greatest ally, Moana felt she barely knew the ocean anymore, something that, as a wayfinder, she had a hard time accepting.

"So?" Maui was looking at her expectantly. "What do you think, Chief? Are we gonna take another stab at Te Fiti?"

 _Well, yes,_ thought Moana. _I mean, of course we are! What's the worst that can happen, right?_

She immediately wished she hadn't asked herself that question, as visions of storms, waterfalls, giant cannibalistic crabs, and the goddess of death filled her mind.

"Yeah," she said aloud, sighing and reaching out to untie the ropes that bound the canoe to the rocks. "Okay…let's do this."

Maui used an oar to paddle them out into the current, and then the sail caught the wind. On course for Te Fiti, at least for the moment, Moana and Maui sat in silence, gazing warily at the water off either side of the canoe, waiting with every muscle tensed for something terrible to happen.

It didn't, which was somehow even more nerve wracking.

Everything continued calm and serene for hours, until the sun had fully risen in the sky and was beginning to go down again. Moana, still on course, was sure that they'd soon be seeing the shape of Maui's island, the island that she'd discovered contained a hidden entrance to Hine-nui-te-po's kingdom.

"I think," said Moana, frowning at the horizon, "that I'm going to steer us as clear of the entrance to Rarohenga as I possibly can. We came out around your old island, didn't we, when we escaped the first time? So, I'm going to take us around the back of that island instead, and maybe that way we can completely avoid any place that Hine-nui-te-po can touch."

"You can't avoid Rarohenga," Maui informed her, shaking his head. "It's the realm of the dead, Moana; all of the dead. Can you imagine how big the place would have to be to contain the souls of, literally, _every person_ who has ever died? Doesn't matter where we sail; we're technically on top of Rarohenga all the time. It's like I said, though; she can't come after us. All she can do is send her minions, which frankly isn't that scary, or-!"

He stopped, staring at a point a few feet away from the boat, and then grimaced.

"What? What is it?" Moana followed Maui's gaze, and saw the white-water whirlpool opening up in front of their canoe, turning the ocean into a vortex which was sucking everything around it down into the deep.

"Or," sighed Maui, "Hine-nui-te-po could just ask the ocean to bring us down to Rarohenga for her. There's always that option. Hadn't really considered that which, come to think of it, is…kinda dumb."

Moana didn't have time to be shocked or panicky. "Hang on!"

Pushing the canoe's tailboard hard to the left, Moana leaned into the side of the canoe, snatched the paddle out of Maui's unresisting hands, and tried desperately to force the boat away from the oncoming whirlpool. She just managed to skirt the edge of the vortex, but a second and this time larger whirlpool opened up in front of her before she'd had a chance to celebrate. This time, Moana swung to the right, and the canoe danced out of the way of new whirlpool just in time to encounter a third, this one larger than two canoes, which opened up right underneath the boat, immediately beginning to suck it down.

"Aaaah!" Moana tried to steer the boat out of the whirlpool, but couldn't fight the pull of the water. The canoe had already begun to spin with the current, and Moana knew she'd lost control and wouldn't be able to get it back.

"MAUI," she screamed above the rush of the water. "It's no good, we've gotta get out of here!"

Maui gritted his teeth, then held his fish hook up above his head and let out a whoop.

"CHEEEEHUUUUUUU!"

In a flash, he'd become the hawk again, and, grabbing Moana roughly in his talons, he hauled her out of the boat and up into the sky. Moana clung desperately to his legs, and watched as the ocean sucked the empty canoe down to the bottom of the sea, leaving her suspended in the air with nothing between her and the swirling vortex but thin air and Maui's painful deathgrip on her upper arms. She could feel his claws cutting deep into her skin, drawing blood, but she bit her lip and tried not to let Maui realize how much it hurt.

"Hey," shouted Maui, and Moana looked up in surprise to find that his face and only his face had returned to its human form, perched on his hawk neck with feathers sticking out from all sides.

"No matter what you do," he told her, "don't let go. You hear me? Do NOT let go!"

Moana just nodded. He didn't have to ask her twice.

Without another word, Maui turned fully into a hawk again, let out a sharp cry of frustration that Moana could feel echoing all over the back of her brain. Much more slowly than before, he took off across the water, keeping a good distance between himself and the lapping waves, headed for a dark point in the distance that Moana fervently hoped would turn out to be land. Whatever it was, however, it now seemed very, very far away.

"This isn't going to work," declared Maui, now half-human again with his face exposed. Moana could hear in his voice that he was trying and just barely managing to keep sounding relaxed. "I can't keep this up, and you're bleeding. Time to show me some of that upper body strength, Moana. I need you to get up onto my back, right now."

"What?" Moana began to protest. "Hey, I-!"

"NOW." Moana could feel Maui's grip beginning to slip. Desperately she detached one hand and reached up, trying to gain purchase on his back, but feathers didn't make for good climbing handholds.

 _I'm going to fall,_ realized Moana, forcing herself to take deep breaths. _Okay…so, if I'm going to fall anyway, then…yeah. There's only one thing left to do._

"Maui," she called up to him, "I'm going to let go."

"WHAT?" Maui was no longer even remotely calm. "Are you insane? What was the one thing I told you not to do?"

"I'm going to let go," repeated Moana, "and you're going to drop me…and then you're going to catch me, because if you don't, I'm going to end up in Rarohenga a lot sooner than we expected, for all the wrong reasons. Ready?"

"Uh, no," began Maui, "no, I am not-!"

"I'm letting go!"

Moana shut her eyes, murmured a hasty prayer to any gods who weren't actively trying to kill her, and released her grip on Maui's legs. For a moment, she hung painfully by the claws he had sunk into her shoulders, and then, with a tearing sensation as Maui's grip also gave way, she fell.

Moana's stomach dropped, and she bit down hard on her lip, opening her eyes again just in time to see the ocean rushing up to meet her from below, still swirling and ready to engulf her the moment she reached it.

Then, just before she hit the surface of the waves, she heard Maui's screech. She landed on his back as he shot beneath her, skimming the water with his claws. She clung to him, and he soared back up into the sky again, this time with Moana firmly nestled against his neck and bleeding onto his feathers.

Before too long, Moana couldn't see the whirlpool anymore, or perhaps it had sunk back into the sea. She watched the water below for a while, aching inside, as she and Maui made their way as fast as they could for dry land, something she'd never longed for so much in her life until now.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Goodness. Just writing this chapter gave me motion sickness. I don't think I could ever be a successful adventuress. Oh, well.


	19. Chapter Eighteen

**Author's Note:** Today I woke up, looked around, and realized that it's time to get out of my horrible customer service job. I can't do this anymore. This place is hell.

I called in sick, and am going to spend the day applying to local teaching jobs and new preschools that are looking to hire post-winter-break employees. I am going to go to the mall, I will by a new interview suit, and I am going to get this train back on track.

…I may also go see Moana again in theaters, since I can see that there is a late showing, and hopefully my applications will all be done by then.

Now, a chapter.

* * *

 **Chapter Eighteen**

Somehow, maybe through sheer force of will and his superhuman good luck, Maui got them both to the shore of the island he'd once called home. The cave was still there, as was the giant mark of the fish hook that Maui had created there to declare his ownership of the island.

Maui took a deep, slow breath, then turned to Moana.

"Look," he began, seething, angrier than he could remember having been in years. "What you did out there, that was _crazy_. You could have been killed! You almost WERE killed. Do you…actually have no self-preservation instinct? You don't act like you've got one. I was pretty sure that self-preservation came built in to most mortals, but I think yours is broken. You might want to get that looked at. Seriously, Moana, I can't…uh…Moana?"

He stopped, because she obviously wasn't listening. Instead, she'd tucked her knees up against her chest and was hugging herself, curled up in a ball, staring bleakly out at the ocean.

"Hey, Moana." Maui let some of the anger drain out of his voice. "Look, I'm not…okay, I am mad, but that's not the point. The point is, we're still alive, right? Nice job, way to stay alive. That's…probably what I meant to say."

He tried to smile, but she still didn't seem to be paying attention.

"Um." Clearing his throat, he tried again. "So, Moana of Motunui, what else you got? We, uh, need a new plan, so I'm ready when you are. Shoot. What's next for great hero Maui and his intrepid teenage sidekick?"

For a moment, Maui didn't think she was going to respond to that either.

"I'm twenty," she said finally, shaking her head.

"Huh? You are?" Maui blinked. "Well, uh, wow, that's…okay, I guess that actually makes sense. Time flies when you're having fun, or something. Anyway, Moana, what are we-?"

"I don't have a plan," she mumbled. "I think…I think we should go home."

Maui's jaw dropped.

There was blood from Maui's talons all across Moana's shoulders, so that the manta rays on her back were stained a dark red. Clumsily, Maui tried to wipe some of the blood off with his fingers, but it was partially dried. He started to reach for the water to help wash it off, but thought better of it at the last second.

"It's not safe for you to be here, so close to Rarohenga," Moana went on quietly. "We…we need to get you back to the island."

After a moment's consideration, Maui decided not to argue.

"All right," he agreed. "That's not a bad idea. We'll get you back to the village, we'll regroup, take a break, and we'll come up with a new plan. Okay?"

Moana didn't' say anything.

"Let's ask your Mom and Dad. They seem like pretty wise village elders," Maui went on. "They'll probably have some ideas, maybe some old stories about explorers from ancient past that'll give us some hints, etcetera…you know the kind of thing."

He smiled, but Moana didn't even look at him.

"It'll be fine," he assured her. "We got this. Best thing to do right now is to sit down, take a deep breath…and maybe rest for a bit, because you're a big, bloody mess, and I've had a human on my back for longer than any other hawk, ever, so I'm beat."

"I'm sorry," whispered Moana. "I'm sure that wasn't a lot of fun."

It hadn't been, but somehow, Maui didn't feel like giving her even a little bit of a hard time about it anymore.

"Don't worry about it." He shrugged. "I'm sorry for making holes in your shoulders."

"Thanks for saving my life," said Moana, "again."

She looked so defeated that Maui felt like his heart, which he usually tried to deny even having, was going to break.

"Listen," he said slowly, trying to find an uninjured place on Moana's back or shoulders to give her a comforting pat, "Nobody wins all of them, okay? We got beaten this time, tomorrow we'll get back up and give it another shot. Take it from the guy who's been around for a few thousand years; you screw up, you learn from it, you do better next time, you save the world. Trial and error are the, uh, key to success." He knew that he sounded like an idiot even as he listened to the words leaving his mouth. He'd frankly never been much good at pep talks, and this one was trite as hell. "Just…don't let it get you too down, that's what I'm trying to say."

Moana nodded. "Thanks. I won't."

Completely out of his element with a forlorn twenty-year-old-girl, Maui blew out a breath, and decided that the best thing to do right now was probably to let her have a few minutes to herself to get her thoughts together.

"I'm gonna go bunk down in the cave for a few minutes," he told her. "Need to try to store up a little energy for the flight back to Motunui. You can come get me when you're ready to leave. I'm not going anywhere without you, so." He shrugged. "Take your time."

"Okay." Finally, Moana looked over at him and smiled. "I won't be long."

The smile, at least, gave Maui a little bit of relief.

He went into the cave, lay down on the cool floor, and tried not to think about the lost sort of look that he'd seen in Moana's eyes only moments ago. It wasn't that she wasn't allowed to feel down sometimes; of course she was. Everybody had their bad moments. Maui, he admitted to himself, had lots of them.

It was just that Moana was always so upbeat, so raring to go, so ready for the next adventure. The girl had, after thinking about it for maybe ten seconds, voluntarily fallen out of the clutches of a flying hawk because she was pretty sure that he'd probably catch her in time to save her from one of the more unpleasant forms of watery death. One thing you could say for Moana, she had guts. She was a risk taker, the kind of person who bounced back. Seeing her like this was more than a little jarring.

 _She's just exhausted,_ he reasoned with himself. _I mean, how many times have we almost died in the last, oh, forty-eight hours? Three? Five? It'd be enough to make anybody grumpy. Hell, I'm pissed, too. It's like the gods and the elements never leave us alone. Life's never boring, I guess._

It occurred to him, not at all for the first time, that Moana's life would probably have been perfectly boring and completely safe if he hadn't decided to come along and almost destroy her world a few times.

 _I did it for her people,_ he reminded himself. _I did it so that they could be like gods…because wouldn't that be better? Isn't that really what mortals want; to have everything that the gods have? She understands that…I think._

The road to Rarohenga, he reflected, was paved with good intentions, and maybe, just maybe, he'd had it wrong the whole time. Maybe what humans really wanted wasn't the be like the gods.

Maybe, Maui thought miserably, what he wanted was to be like the mortals, who had the only thing that gods seemed to lack; a healthy sort of community that involved sincerely caring, without trying to kill each other every time something didn't go their way.

Time passed, the sun went down, and the stars, Maui could see through the hole in the roof, came out. Moana still hadn't come in to get him, and Maui wondered if maybe she'd fallen asleep out there on the beach.

A little concerned that the ocean might have gotten her, or that she'd decided to do something stupid and had wandered off on her own, Maui went out looking for her.

"Moana," he began, emerging from the mouth of the cave. "Hey, are you-?"

He fell silent when he saw Moana standing at the edge of the water, gazing down into the surf.

"It's not going to work," she was telling the ocean. "I'm not going to give him to you."

Maui opened his mouth in surprise, then hastily shut it again.

"You know why I can't do that," she went on, shaking her head. "I mean, if it's true what they say, if you're angry because Hine-nui-te-po is hurting so much, then you do understand, really. You know what it means to care about someone so much that you can't bear to watch them being hurt, so…you see, don't you? It's no use. Just…just give up, already. It'd be easier for both of us."

The waves got a little higher, reaching just a little farther up the shore, but Moana didn't even step out of their way. She let them wash over her feet, apparently unperturbed, and the ocean, in turn, didn't take her.

"What do you think any of this is going to achieve?" She sighed. "I can't just go 'oh, okay, well, if that's what it takes to stop the flooding, then I guess I'll make the sacrifice for the greater good,' and hand Maui over. You can rage, and splash, and flood, and try to drown me as many times as you want, but it's not even a choice. I mean, I'm not going to give him up. You wouldn't either. You…you have to see that this isn't going anywhere. How long are we going to keep playing this tug-of-war game? I'm never going to throw him back to you…and I think you know it."

To Maui's horror, he suddenly realized that Moana was crying. A tear trickled down her face and plopped into the sea, and the sea swallowed it up and carried it away.

"Please," Moana begged, "please, just tell me what else I can do. Give me a hint; give me some other option to make this right. I want to help. I want to fix this, I want to make you feel better, I really do, but…I can't do it this way. You have to be willing to make some compromise, here…please."

The sea said nothing, but continued to play gently with the beach and Moana's toes, glistening in the moonlight, now full of plenty of Moana's earnest tears.

As silently as he could, Maui turned around and slunk back into the cave.

He felt strangely cold and light-headed, unable to shake the memory of the way she'd assured the sea that she wouldn't give him up.

There would, he knew, of course be another way. Hine-nui-te-po might be satisfied with just taking everything that Maui had dared to show he cared about. She might be satisfied with destroying Moana's entire village, drowning her, and then keeping her on display in the realm of the dead, just in case Maui happened to stop by again someday. That would probably be enough to appease her, to calm the sea and to save the world. Come to think of it, Hine-nui-te-po might even find it in herself to spare Moana's village if Moana herself came to the lure in time, even if it was only so that Maui could feel pain. Hine-nui-te-po liked pain. She liked the long, drawn-out, lingering kind of pain that she'd elicit prettily easily by forcing Maui to watch Moana die….maybe more than once. Maybe she'd do it a few times, just to make her point. After all, she had the key to mortality; who was to say she couldn't play exactly the right kind of games with it to make death hurt even more?

Maui shivered, fought off the sudden and powerful urge to throw up, and then looked over at the boulder that blocked the entrance to Rarohenga.

 _You know what it means,_ he could still hear Moana saying in the back of his mind, _to care about someone so much that you can't bear to watch them being hurt._

Shaking his head, he took a deep breath, shoved the boulder out of the way, and then took a flying leap through the hole in the ground, down into the shimmering realm of the dead.

"CHAAAAAAHOOOOOOOOO!"

* * *

 **Author's End Note:** Angst angst angst aaaaaaaangst.

It looks like we're actually getting closer and closer to the end of the first part of this story. Thanks for all your thoughts on whether or not I should do a sequel; I'm doing some story mapping right now to figure out how I want to structure this as we move forward.

Now, I'd best go back to my job applications if I want a chance to go to the movies tonight!


	20. Chapter Nineteen

**Author's Note:** Well, I didn't get all of my applications done today, but I did completely re-do my resume, and I updated my cover letter as well. I'm all ready for a new career, or maybe to go back to an old career that I really loved.

I also didn't make it to the movie this evening, but I went ahead and bought tickets to the 10:30 showing tomorrow morning. Obviously, that means taking another day off work, but it's fine. I came in for a full five days the week before Christmas, when there was literally no one else in the office, so I don't think anyone is going to complain about my taking a couple of sick days.

I used to have such a good work ethic. I think I might be able to get it back if I was doing something I felt was really worthwhile. I hope I can do that again.

For now, I'm going to focus on this chapter, and when I'm done writing it, I'll begin some more applications.

Fair warning; we are picking up the pace a little in the next few chapters. We're going to be flashing back and forth a little between Maui's perspective and Moana's perspective.

* * *

 **Chapter Nineteen**

Eventually, Moana sat down on the beach and rested her head in her hands.

"I liked it better," she muttered, "when we were friends. You have to admit, we used to be an incredible team. I…I really miss the ocean. I miss the way the water used to call to me. If I'm not Moana, wayfinder, chosen of the sea, then who am I? What was the point of it all? It's sort of…lonely, feeling like I've lost a part of myself. Maybe that's weird, but…I don't know, maybe it isn't. Flying was great, sure, but it wasn't…it was nothing like sailing. The ocean is where I belong. It's where I _want_ to belong."

The surf bubbled a little bit, then receded. For a moment, Moana was sure that she was being ignored, until a spray of water suddenly shot out of the ocean and doused her head, soaking her hair and getting in her eyes.

"Agh! Hey!" Moana spat out water, gave the ocean a hesitant sort of smile, and pushed the wet hair back out of her face. "Wait, so…was that 'truce?' Because that would be fantastic. I am all for making up. No hard feelings, uh, mostly. It's just-!"

Before she could finish the sentence, she heard Maui's favorite war cry echoing from somewhere back inside the cave.

"Maui?" Spinning around, she stared at the cave, then took off at a run, leaving the ocean behind her.

As soon as she saw that the boulder had been moved, Moana knew that something was very, very wrong.

"No. No way. Maui?!" Kneeling next to the hole in the ground, Moana called down it, realizing even as she did so that it was stupid. Even if he was down there, there was no way he could hear her, now. Just like he'd said before, Rarohenga went on for thousands upon thousands of miles, and if she did draw anyone's attention, it'd probably be the wrong kind of attention.

Moana bit her lip and tried not to imagine the possibility that Maui might have been grabbed while he slept, maybe by one of the Turehu who'd come up on an errand and had caught him off his guard.

 _Wait…but that doesn't make sense,_ she thought, confused. _Maui wouldn't have been off his guard. I mean, he knows exactly what danger we're in, here, and he wouldn't have had a hard time overpowering a spirit, right? They couldn't have just taken him, not here, so…_

She remembered the triumphant, "CHAAAAAHOOOOO," she'd heard a few moments ago, and terrible realization hit her like a brick.

"AGH! Really? You have GOT to be kidding me. Why would he…and why NOW?" Moana shook her head, trying to silence the frantic warning bells that were now ringing in the back of her brain. "W-When I find that guy, I am going to give him SUCH a piece of my mind. He told me he was going to take a nap! A nap. This is definitely NOT a nap! Nngh…"

There was no point, she decided, in sitting there trying to guess what Maui had been thinking. If he was down in Rarohenga, then he was already in more trouble than she'd bargained for on this trip. She didn't even want to think about what Hine-nui-te-po had in mind for him if he got caught.

There was nothing else for it. Taking a deep, exasperated breath, Moana took a running jump and flung herself into the hole.

"Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh-wh-whoa, what the heck?!"

She began to fall, and quickly broke the surface of the water. Then suddenly, to her shock, an aggressive jet of water hit her from below and sent her rocketing back up through the hole again until she sat down hard on the ground of the cave.

For a moment, she sat stunned, staring at the water, which was now receding back down through the hole.

"Oh no…no you don't," she muttered, glaring down the hole. "I am going down there, whether you like it or not. This isn't up for debate, okay? Chee-huuuuu!"

Doing her best imitation of Maui's war cry, she propelled herself off the edge and down through the opening again. Again, a spray of water met her halfway, totally engulfed her, and then shot her back up to the surface, this time depositing her roughly on her back.

Moana stared up at the roof of the cave, and took a deep breath.

"Okay," she said through gritted teeth. "So, remember when I said there were 'no hard feelings?' Well, now there are hard feelings. This is definitely not 'truce' behavior. What gives, anyway? I mean, first you try to drag me down into Rarohenga in a giant whirlpool, and then…wait, no?"

A jet of water was now perched at the surface, half out of the hole. It wagged back and forth at her, almost as though the ocean was trying to shake its head.

"You…didn't want me to go down to Rarohenga?" Moana frowned.

The ocean shook its 'head' again.

"Okay." Moana put her hands on her hips and glared. "I'm having a hard time believing you, because I distinctly remember almost drowning in a terrible, deadly whirlpool, or two, or three, like, what, three hours ago? Maybe less. What were you going to do, take Maui and then spit me back up on land, or something?"

The ocean nodded.

Moana's eyes went wide. "You WERE?"

Again, the ocean nodded, this time almost sheepishly.

"Wha… _why?_ " Moana was incredulous. "I mean, isn't that what Hine-nui-te-po wanted? She wanted to get me down there so that she could kill me in revenge for my helping Maui escape, isn't that right?"

This time, the ocean didn't respond immediately. It swayed a little bit, obviously noncommittal, almost uncomfortable, before nodding once, not nearly as emphatically as before.

"She did," muttered Moana. "She probably still does. I'm sure she'd be thrilled if she got to turn me into a spirit today. It'd probably improve the whole atmosphere of the underworld, right? So…why can't I go?"

The ocean almost seemed to sigh.

"You don't want me to go," mumbled Moana. "You…don't want me to get hurt."

Hopefully, the ocean nodded.

Moana took a deep, slow breath.

"This,'" she said bitterly, "is a really, REALLY bad time for you to suddenly decide to regrow a conscience! You've been terrorizing my island for literally months, and NOW you don't want me to get hurt?"

The ocean sprayed a very small, rather hesitant jet of water at Moana's hair, tousling and flattening it again.

"Truce," muttered Moana, rolling her eyes. "Yeah, I got that the first time….and I appreciate that, I really do. It's just that it is kinda really important for me to get to Rarohenga right now. Can we maybe talk about this later? Please?"

Again, she tried to slide down into the hole. This time, the ocean didn't even let her make it into the water below. Instead, it sprayed out at her all at once in an overpowering jet, which pushed her all the way back against the far wall before it stopped and gave her a chance to breathe. Then, while Moana was gasping and spitting water, it rushed at the boulder from behind, and with several sharp bursts, forced the boulder back into place over the entrance to the underworld, disappearing through the only visible crevice at the last second before the hole was sealed off.

There was now a large puddle on the ground behind the boulder, ozing over the floor and dampening everything. Moana stood up and glared balefully at it.

"Argh! This…this can't be happening!"

* * *

"Well, well, well," murmured Hine-nui-te-po, goddess of the dead, as three of her robed and tattooed handmaidens marched Maui into her throne room. "Look who's come home at last…Maui, darling, welcome back. To what incredible divine gift do we owe the privilege of your company?"

She was smiling with every part of her face except for her eyes, and Maui could hear the brittle, harsh undertones in her voice.

The goddess was beyond angry. She was also triumphant, furiously triumphant, which made horrible little shivers run down Maui's spine.

"You win, Hine-nui-te-po." Maui shrugged, playing it cool. "I got sick of running from your minions, and I got bored trying not to drown every time I set foot in a boat, so I'm back. Good game, but I'm done running. You still wanna get married? I mean, I assume that ship has probably sailed, but I figure it couldn't hurt to ask, right?"

"I am not," hissed Hine-nui-te-po, "going to even dignify that last bit with a response. "I'm afraid I've lost interest in knitting my soul to yours…assuming you even have a soul, which I'll be very interested to find out once I kill you. You do know, Maui, that I am going to kill you. Revenge, they say, can feel so sweet. I wouldn't know…but I'm eager to find out."

Maui swallowed hard. "Yeah…I know."

"You do," murmured the goddess, "and yet you came back, presumably of your own free will. That _is_ a bit unusual, isn't it? People don't usually rush to meet their fate so readily…and in your case, you'd be quite likely to live forever, under different circumstances. Why come back now?"

Maui shrugged.

"I told you," he said, "you won. There's nowhere for me to hide; you've made that pretty clear. Even the ocean's out to get me."

"So you can hide," suggested Hine-nui-te-po, "on the land, can't you? Or, is there some reason why you can't take refuge on the islands? Mortal villagers driving you out with carving knives again, are they? I always told you to be careful of those pesky mortals…no respect, no gratitude. You can't expect a thing from them. Nothing's changed."

"Guess not," muttered Maui, thinking of Tui and Sina, and the way they'd welcomed him into their home despite every objection they'd received from the village council.

"Maybe," purred Hine-nui-te-po, "I'll kill them, too. I've never liked mortals much; foolish, sniveling, insensitive, disloyal things that they are, and a few less up there just means a few more down here to help do the dirty errands that we can't be bothered with. Besides, it might be fun for you to watch the humans who betrayed you groveling at my feet, begging for a merciful time I the afterlife. I'm not completely without compassion, Maui…I do still feel for you, a bit. I'd be willing to give you that little satisfaction."

Maui just shook his head.

"Nah," he said, trying to keep his voice level. "Here's the deal, beautiful. If you want to keep me down here, you gotta agree to call off the ocean and to leave the islands alone, got that? Our little lover's spat is turning the human world into a real mess, and I've got a reputation to protect. Can't 'go down in history as 'the guy who was such an incredible heartbreaking love machine that he destroyed the entire mortal world.' That's not my style.,"

There was a shifting, snapping sound behind him, and Maui glanced quickly over his shoulder. It turned out only to be another Turehu, the girl Ngaire, who'd apparently joined her sisters at the last minute. She glared at him, then quickly looked away.

"Hmm," murmured Hine-nui-te-po. "What is it, Maui? Are you expecting someone?"

Maui shook his head, quickly returning his attention to her. "Who, me? Now, what kind of a question is that? Who'd I be looking for down here, except you, gorgeous?"

Hine-nui-te-po gave him a thin-lipped smile. "Oh, I wonder," she murmured.

* * *

 **Author's End Note:** Alas, I leave you with another cliffhanger for the evening. There is so much to do tonight. Thanks very much for reading, and I'll see you tomorrow with more thrilling escapades of Mau in the underworld.


	21. Chapter Twenty

**Author's Note:** Thank you so much to everyone who has sent me the encouraging comments about my new job search! I am really touched.

I have promised myself that if I finish the first ten things on my to-do list before one o'clock, I can have Chipotle for lunch. With that motivation in mind, let us get immediately to Chapter Twenty (which is, by the way, bullet point five on my to-do list, so I am, admittedly, skipping ahead a little.

Wow…seriously, we're already on Chapter Twenty? Time flies when you're having fun…

* * *

 **Chapter Twenty**

Hine-nui-te-po sighed. Her smile changed, became even more slightly malicious as she leaned towards him, gently shaking her head.

"You're losing your touch, Maui of the Wind and Sea," she told him. "You? Give up? Never. I don't believe it. You've been playing tricks and escaping by the skin of your teeth for thousands upon thousands of years…so why give up now? Because you got bored with running? Your story just doesn't add up…and I'm not nearly as stupid as you seem to think I am."

 _Damn,_ thought Maui, although he kept his face completely impassive. _No, I guess you're not._

"I think," the goddess went on, "that you're still trying to be a hero. Here you are, sacrificing yourself bravely so that the mortals won't have to suffer any more at the hands of the cruel goddess of the dead. You couldn't get them immortality, but at least you'll end their torment, isn't that right? It's noble, I'll give you that, but it really doesn't suit you. Haven't you learned, after all these years, that the humans aren't going to be grateful? They're not worthy of your sacrifice. You'll get nothing, not even a legacy of heroism. In a few thousand years, maybe even a few hundred, they'll forget about you. They'll find a new savior, a new hero, and they'll tell new stories…and you'll no longer even exist, not even in story and song. I'm honestly surprised that you've let it come to this. I thought you were…more savvy. I thought you were starting to really understand them."

The water burbled, splashed gently against some object in its path behind him, and again, Maui glanced over his shoulder to see what it was.

There was nothing there.

"Nah," he told her, smiling bitterly to himself. "Actually, I'm surprised at _you._ I mean, come on, you've been dealing with human souls since, seriously, the dawn of time, but you're still the one who doesn't get them. They're not so bad. They've got things we don't have…things we never learned, because we're too busy being all-powerful, I guess. There's things we can learn from them…things I could've learned earlier, maybe. Guess it doesn't matter, now."

For a moment, Hine-nui-te-po looked genuinely incredulous.

"What has become of you, Maui?" She raised an eyebrow at him. "You've turned into some sort of sappy piece of human trash. I'm surprised at you…and a little disgusted. How disappointing."

Maui shrugged.

"I met somebody," he admitted. "Somebody who taught me something kinda important. 'The people you love will change you,' she said. Guess that can be true. Doesn't matter now, does it? You're gonna kill me, so my philosophy and potential redemption is kind of a non-issue at this point, am I right?"

Hine-nui-te-po's eyes flashed.

"You…you _met_ someone," she hissed, half-rising from her chair. "A mortal?"

"'Fraid so." Maui snored a laugh. "Shame it took so long. Might have been better if I'd met her, oh, a couple thousand years ago, but there's not much point in crying over spilt milk. 'S done, now."

 _How long,_ wondered Maui, _have I been down here? Moana's got to have noticed by now…unless the sea got her after all. I wonder if she's freaking out. Well, it's not like I could have told her what I was doing, so…it is what it is. Obviously, I don't want her to come down after me…right? Nah, that'd be terrible. Definitely better if she doesn't notice, doesn't come after me…yeah. Yeah, I'm glad it worked out this way. Maybe._

"She's not coming, you know," murmured Hine-nui-te-po, a bit too harshly, betraying the smile she was obviously trying to keep stuck to her face. "She won't come. They never do. The gods are there to 'serve' the humans, it's not the other way around, no matter what they pretend to believe, or what they preach in their pretty little stories. She's probably already given up on you."

"You don't know her," muttered Maui.

Hine-nui-te-po paused, stared for a moment, and then gasped out a derisive laugh.

"You," she accused him. "You're…you're _in love_ with her. How…how incredibly pathetic, oh, my word. You've fallen in love…with one of _them!_ "

Unexpectedly, she threw back her head and burst out cackling, peals of brittle, high-pitched laughter echoing through the throne room. None of the Turehu moved or even smiled, and eventually the terrible sound died away. The goddess still looked angry, tickled, maliciously delighted.

"This…oh I DO like this," she told him, wiping tears out of her eyes as she spoke. "Here you are, Maui, the half-human without a heart, waiting patiently for a mortal lover who will never come. You're so stupid! You've been abandoned by a human, for the _second_ time, and this time you won't have a chance to learn from your mistake, because I'm going to kill you! How does it feel to have your heart broken? Oh, I do want to enjoy this a little bit. I think I'll let you live just a little longer. I'm going to love watching that rejection sink in. Oh, it was so true…revenge is _terribly_ sweet. I might just develop a sweet tooth for this sort of thing, in time."

Maui didn't say anything.

 _She is going to come for me,_ he told himself, realizing with a pang that, of course, he'd been hoping for that all along. Even when he'd first jumped down here, ostensibly with the intention of sacrificing himself for her, in the back of his mind he'd known, he'd been sure she'd come. It made him feel sick, realizing that he was still being just as selfish as always, that he'd probably end up putting her in even more danger, now, than if he'd decided not to try and be a hero.

 _No matter what I do,_ he told himself, disgusted, _I always get it wrong. No wonder the villagers keep their distance. I'm as selfish and as much of a menace as they all believe._

"Just think about it logically," suggested the goddess, obviously loving her advantage. "Why on earth would she come back for you? I hunted her through the sea, I nearly destroyed her village, and I threatened the lives of the people she _really_ loves, her family, her own kind. Why would she risk any more of that just to come back for you, you, who have done nothing but make her life so much complicated and miserable?"

Maui realized he couldn't argue with that, and he hated it. He hated himself, dropped his eyes away from Hine-nui-te-po, tried to shut out her laughter and her derision, but it was everywhere at once, bouncing off the walls and invading his mind.

"I tell you what, Maui," chuckled Hine-nui-te-po. "Do you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to let you live in hope…for the next few hours, at least. Hope is such a truly destructive thing, isn't it? I'm going to watch it break you down, dwindle and dissolve, minute by minute, until you're nearly as empty as these spirits of the dead. I think that's going to be quite a lot of fun!"

"Hope?" Maui wasn't sure what she was talking about.

"That's what I said," agreed the goddess, nodding encouragingly. "I'll make you an oath, here and now, with the ocean and the spirits of Rarohenga as my witnesses."

Maui frowned.

"If that mortal girl does come for you before your breakfast tray arrives in the morning," announced the goddess, "then I'm going to let you leave with her. I won't even give you any trouble…and before you ask, no, I won't kill her family and destroy her village, either."

Maui stared.

"I won't bother either of you at all, in fact," she went on gleefully, "until it's her natural time, of course. Isn't that nice? You have a chance at a bright future with the lady you love…assuming, of course, that she bothers to come rescue you, something that no mortal has ever bothered to do in the history of the world. Haven't you thought about that? If humans were really so very loyal and devoted, then don't you think at least ONE of them would have tried to save a loved one from the power of death before? But of course, your pretty little princess is _different,_ I'm sure. Despite the fact that we have every reason to believe that you're no more than a villain and a nuisance to the world above, that little girl will be here before you know it, absolutely," she assured him sarcastically, grinning all the while. "Oh, oh, I am going to enjoy watching your heart destroy itself with hope. What a magnificent day I'm having. I haven't felt this alive in…two, three thousand years?"

Two of the Turehu appeared at Maui's side, holding shackles. Without protest, he held out his wrists and let them bind him, didn't even resist as they took his fish hook and hung it on the wall, out of his reach. As they marched him to the place beside the throne where Hine-nui-te-po apparently kept her favorite death-row prisoners, the goddess sighed happily.

"And now," she declared, "we wait."

Maui shut his eyes, took a deep breath, and, hesitantly, let himself hope.

* * *

 **Author's End Note:** Angst angst angst aaaaaaaangst (again).

Hine-nui-te-po in this story is so incredibly evil…and yet I actually kind of love her. I mean, she is pretty much doing what I would have loved to do to every man or woman who has ever broken my heart, and I'm sure I'm not the only person in the world who's been really, seriously angry at a faithless lover before, so I'm kind of fine with Hine-nui-te-po being incredibly villainous. It's fun to write.

I'll see if I can add another chapter later. For now, back to work!


	22. Chapter Twenty-One

**Author's Note:** Oof, so a few of you have asked me about running a theater company, and what that's like (thanks to anyone who has expressed interest!)

Well, this morning, one of my regular actresses called me, elated, sobbing tears of joy.

"Mercy," she announced, "I'm going to have a baby! I can't audition for Much Ado About Nothing. Sorry!"

Now, don't' get me wrong; I'm genuinely happy for her, but I had kinda planned on having her play a major role in this upcoming show…which auditions in just a little over a week. Subsequently, I'm spending my evening alternating between job applications and sending out new audition notices.

And now, back to our story.

* * *

 **Chapter Twenty-One**

Back in the island cave, Moana was starting to get desperate.

For maybe the hundredth time, she was preparing to jump down into the hole that led into the realm of the dead. This time, though, she was taking drastic action against the ocean. She'd found the largest rock she could successfully carry, and had tied it to one of her ankles. Theoretically, she decided, if she jumped into the hole carrying the rock, and then dropped it, it's weight would drag her down fast and hard enough that the ocean might not be able to force her back up to the surface in time. She knew it was a long shot, and she was very aware that, with a rock tied to her leg, she wouldn't be able to run or swim for it if something else, like one of the Turehu, or a giant Moana-eating crab came after her, but there didn't seem to be a lot of other options at this point.

She could feel the ocean watching her as she took a deep breath, steeling herself for the jump. The ocean didn't seem any happier than Moana felt.

"I wouldn't have to do this," she reminded it, "if you'd just be reasonable and let me go down there the regular way, okay? Don't look at me like that; this wasn't exactly my favorite idea either. Ugh. Please, just…please don't get in the way this time. Okay. Here goes."

Moana shut her eyes and fell off the ledge into the hole, clutching the rock against her chest. The descent was definitely faster this time, and it felt much less controlled.

Before she had a chance to triumph too much, however, the ocean scooped her up and blasted her back to the surface, snapping the rope that tied the rock to her ankle. It sent the rock up after her a few seconds later, and that landed with a crunch on the cave floor beside her, leaving Moana feeling completely deflated and out of ideas.

"AAAGGHHHHHH." Flinging her arms out on either side in a gesture of absolute disgust and abandon, she stared down the hole at the ocean, who was poking it's 'head' ever-so-hesitantly up over the ledge at her.

"Look," she sighed, completely exasperated. "You're not helping. You're not helping _at all._ I know that you want to make things right, that you're worried about me getting hurt…I get it. I do, but, honestly? It's a liiiiittle late for that at this point. We're already in this mess, and you can't pretend that we're gonna get out of it by closing our eyes, uh, figuratively, in your case, and pretending it isn't happening. I AM going down there, and if you really want to apologize and to help set things right, then instead of trying to stop me, you should go with me."

The ocean stared, somehow managing to look genuinely surprised.

"If you're worried that I'm going to get hurt," Moana muttered, "or, and let's be honest with each other, here, if you're worried that maybe I'm gonna get into some kind of a jam with Hine-nui-te-po that doesn't end so well on either side, then all you have to do is stick with me and watch my back. It's like I said; we used to be a team. We can be a team again. We _can't_ be a very effective team if we keep coming at this problem from totally different angles. I want to save Maui, you want to save me, and neither of us really wants to piss off the goddess more than we absolutely have to…so, great. That's sort of a plan. So, let's get to it."

The ocean, apparently taken aback, seemed to consider this.

"Um, I don't mean to pressure you, or anything," Moana went on, a little tense, "but…we kind of have to do this, like, now. Is that okay? Trust me…I may not know exactly what I'm doing, but I'll improvise. Everything's probably gonna be fi-AHHHHHHHHH!"

Apparently having reached a decision, the ocean suddenly reared up, gave Moana a push, and sent her careening down through the hole into Rarohenga.

Lately, Moana reflected as she tumbled through the water, it felt like she'd been doing a lot of falling. The trip from the cave to the ground below didn't feel nearly as long and harrowing as she remembered it feeling before, and she wondered if maybe she was starting to get used to the whole concept of death-defying stunts.

"Okay," she said when she landed, identifying the same rock that she'd hidden behind when she arrived in Rarohenga the first time, and trying to take her bearings from that. "Here's where you come in, ocean. Take me to Hine-nui-te-po."

The ocean hesitated, and then, all around Moana, she could feel a sort of shifting in the flow of the water. Letting her instinct guide her, she followed what felt like the gentle pushes of the ocean, urging her forward towards a menacing structure that was looming in the distance; the place her grandmother's spirit had indicated was the palace of the goddess of the dead.

As the souls of the dead drifted by her on all sides, apparently completely disinterested, Moana tried not to let herself be too creeped out by their silence, or the way there was nothing behind their eyes. She tried not to let herself think of the genuine possibility that it was already too late; that the goddess had already gotten to Maui, and that he was now one of these same lifeless spirits. She tried not to look for him in the myriad faces passing by, tried no to get momentarily desperate when she saw a broad back and a set of several tattoos that for an instant looked like they might be Maui's.

They weren't. The spirit turned around, showed its unfamiliar face, and passed on. Moana exhaled in ragged relief, squared her shoulders, and kept moving.

She wasn't all that surprised when, as she neared the entrance to the palace, she saw the great, hulking forms of two tanihwa seated there, one on other side of the massive coral-and-wood archway. They were huge, colored black, blue, and grey like the palace itself, with wickedly curved wings folded against their backs and long, slithering tongues that flicked out of their mouths every few seconds, tasting the air around them for any sign of trouble.

Moana stopped in her tracks, and felt the presence of the ocean halt beside her, the flow of water ceasing for a moment.

"Um," she whispered. "Those are new, right? Don't remember seeing them there before. Looks like security's getting a little tighter around here. I guess Maui and my escape kind of shook things up. People probably don't get out of Rarohenga all that often. I'm guessing most of them don't try."

As Moana watched, a heavily-tattooed, light-haired woman with incredibly pale skin, like all the surrounding spirits, approached the entrance to the palace, carrying a laden sack over her shoulder. She stopped in front of the two taniwha, and they each turned, licked her gently with their snake-like tongues, and then sat back again, losing interest in her almost immediately. Unhindered, the woman passed through into the palace.

Moana frowned.

"Okay," she mumbled. "So, I'm gonna have to pass a lizard smell test. Just great."

Unexpectedly, the white sand on the ground around her feet suddenly began to swirl, and then a large clump of it hit Moana squarely in the face.

"H-hey!" She coughed, spluttered, and batted at the sand, but it continued to float up and to attach itself to her, coating her arms, legs, face and midriff until every visible part of her body was the same color as the essentially colorless sand.

Moana glanced down at her arm, turned it over, and was impressed by the transformation. She was, herself, now almost as pale as a ghost.

"That's a good idea," she told the ocean, "but it's not enough. I can't just _look,_ like a spirit, I need to _smell_ like one too, if I don't want to get eaten or fried alive. I need something else. I need…"

Moana tried picturing exactly what the light-haired woman had looked like, what she'd been carrying, the way she'd moved, searching for anything that might be the key to getting inside the palace. She thought about the red and gold woven robes the woman had over her shoulders, and abruptly remembered the way her Grandma's spirit had tried to pass off her own cloak when they'd last met in the underworld.

"The robes," murmured Moana. "I need those robes!"

Beside her, the water shifted restlessly.

"You know the ones I'm talking about," insisted Moana. "The ones that all the Turehu wear. Actually, I probably need the robes off one of the actual Turehu…you know, so I can be sure to smell like a dead person."

She looked around, but none of the Turehu were anywhere to be seen.

"Maui said," she reminded herself, "that they're the only ones who can get freely in and out of Rarohenga. That's probably why the taniwha don't challenge them. They do all of Hine-nui-te-po's errands, and they bring Maui his food. Oh, so if that was one of them bringing breakfast, then…then that means he's definitely still alive!"

Moana sagged with relief, and she suddenly couldn't keep from smiling.

"Okay," she said, taking a deep breath, her determination renewed by the certain knowledge that it wasn't too late after all. "In that case, maybe all we need to do is wait for that girl to come back out…and then we, uh, take the robe…probably by force, unfortunately. What I'm going to need you to do is to create a diversion. Think you can handle that?"

She glanced at the empty space beside her, and the water bubbled its reluctant agreement.

"Great." Moana nodded. "I appreciate it. Okay…so now, we wait."

Sliding down behind the rock, Moana made herself as small as she could, and let out a long, slow breath, trying to release some of the anxious tension that she couldn't help but feel.

 _Maui is alive,_ she repeated in the back of her brain. _He's alive, and what he needs me to do right now is to stay calm, play it cool, and get in there without being roasted by a fire-breathing sea dragon. No point in rushing in and screwing everything up. That wouldn't help. I just…need to be patient. Yeah. Argh…_

Forcing herself to sit quietly, Moana fixed her eyes on the entrance and watched, waiting for the Turehu girl to come back.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** I will award five bonus points to anyone who can tell me exactly what is very, very wrong with this situation, or why Moana is, unknowingly, making a very bad choice. Five bonus points can be redeemed at any time for a free one-shot based on your favorite character or headcanon scenario (assuming you wouldn't rather write it yourself, which I strongly encourage).


	23. Chapter Twenty-Two

**Author's Note:** I'm sorry about not updating yesterday, guys. Thanks for your patience. My old college roommate came in from out of town, and we spent our New Year's Eve at my favorite drag bar making new friends with some very lovely drunk people, and watching probably the best Cher impersonator that has ever been. Subsequently, I got home and completely failed to get any work done.

I'll remedy that right now.

I do hope you all had a lovely New Year's Eve, and that you're looking forward to a successful 2017. Thank you all for helping make my year a little more wonderful already!

* * *

 **Chapter Twenty-Two**

Shackled to the familiar wall of the goddess's throne room, Maui had no choice but to wait…and Moana didn't come.

Meanwhile, with every passing moment, Hine-nui-te-po seemed just a little more pleased with herself. She didn't deliver any more speeches on the faithlessness of mortals, but instead she just stared straight ahead, watching the door that led to her throne room, smiling that terrible, triumphantly miserable smile as, moment after moment, then hour after hour, no one came to rescue her prisoner.

Maui tried not to be surprised; he really did. He tried to remind himself that he'd known all along she wouldn't come, that she didn't have any reason to come, that she was smart enough to realize that a world without him would be a safer, more rational, less mischievous world in which she could lead her village back to the ocean, to be the wayfinder she'd always wanted to be.

He did his best, but in the end, it wasn't any use. The longer he had to watch the door, waiting for her probably not to show up, the more that painful little knife twisted in his chest.

He had been so sure, _so sure_ that she would come. He'd meant something to her, hadn't he? Something she'd said she wasn't willing to give up. He'd heard her say it; she did care about him. She'd promised the ocean that.

 _Then again,_ he reminded himself bitterly, _she doesn't owe me anything anymore, remember? 'All debts are off?' Gah…I'm an idiot. She's never coming back._

Hine-nui-te-po yawned dramatically, stretched, and got up from her throne.

"I wonder," she murmured conversationally, "what's taking Ngaire so long with breakfast, hmm? Perhaps I'd better go see. After all, you _must_ be hungry, and I'm very strict about making sure my prisoners get their last meals. It's a little idiosyncrasy I've picked up, you know, after thousands of years of thinking just how best to accommodate the deceased. I do try to be a reasonable ruler. No more suffering than absolutely necessary, you know…although in your case, I may be having just a little bit of a splurge. Guilty pleasure. You won't tell anyone, will you?" She laughed.

Shooting him a dazzling smile, the goddess turned on her heel and headed out the door, leaving Maui alone, never having felt so not-hungry in his entire life. The very idea of food turned his stomach, which was tied up in enough nervous knots already.

 _All right,_ he thought, trying to shake himself out of the dull half0-panic, and pulling experimentally at the shackles on his wrists. _Maybe, now that she's gone, if I just-!_

Unfortunately, he didn't have any time to try escaping. Not moments after the goddess left, Ngaire, the blond, sour-faced Turehu girl, came hurriedly in through the door, carrying the dreaded tray full of fish.

Maui's stomach dropped, and his heart did an ugly sort of somersault in his chest.

Ngaire shot him a dirty look, leading Maui to suspect that she still hadn't forgiven him for the little trick he'd played on her when he'd last escaped from Rarohenga.

 _So mch for charming my way out of here,_ he thought, frustrated.

"Breakfast," she muttered sulkily. "I hope you choke on it."

"Hey, don't be like that," retorted Maui, trying to keep his tone light despite the pounding of his heart. "I mean, I'm gonna die one way or another, right? You might as well be civil. We're about to be neighbors…for the rest of eternity. Let's not start things off on the wrong foot, okay?"

He shot her a shaky grin, but she just shrugged and rolled her eyes.

Ngaire started to bend down to deposit the tray in front of him, and then, unexpectedly, something went wrong. The water around her rippled sharply, and then, in a flash, the red and gold woven robes she wore flew off her back and were carried away in an unseen current.

Maui blinked.

"H-hey!" Spinning around, Ngaire stared behind her, but there wasn't anyone there. Apparently without thinking, still carrying the tray, she got hastily to her feet again and rushed off after the robe, which was already disappearing through the throne room door.

Maui watched her go, not quite sure what had just happened, but wanting to believe he had a pretty good guess. In the back of his mind, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't completely convince himself that what he'd just seen was only a taniwha's trick, or maybe one of the underworld spirits getting bored and playing games with the Turehu.

 _There's only one person I know,_ he thought, _who pulls off last-minute, nick-of-time saves like that almost as well as I do…and it's Moana._

This time, it was the rush of adrenaline and that hesitant pang of hope that made his heart beat faster, much faster, and, just in case, he got up into a crouch, ready to bolt if the need arose.

 _Maybe,_ he thought, _just…just maybe she came for me after all._

This time, he didn't have to force the grin. He almost felt like singing.

* * *

Moana was very surprised when a red and gold robe came hurrying towards her through the water, landing on her shoulders with a splash. As far as she could tell, it was pretty much identical to the one that the Turehu girl had been wearing when Moana had watched her go into the throne room carrying the sack only minutes before.

"Wow," she whispered. "Thanks! Really nice work!"

All around Moana, the ocean bubbled and burbled, obviously pleased with the praise.

"Okay." Nodding to herself, Moana squared her shoulders, took a deep breath, and started to get up from her hiding place behind the rock. "Now, it's time to-gahh!"

Before she was even fully on her feet, the ocean sprayed her directly in the face with a jet of water. Startled, Moana sat down hard on the ground again, just in time for the pale-haired Turehu girl to come rushing out of the palace, holding a laden tray and looking absolutely enraged.

"Heeeeeeey," screamed the girl, waving her arms emphatically and glaring around at all sides. "Where the hell are you? _Who_ the hell are you? Give it back, I NEED that!"

As Moana pressed herself against the rock, barely breathing to avoid being noticed, the girl dumped the tray she was carrying onto the ground, spilling fish all over the sand, and stormed off into the depths of Rarohenga somewhere, probably chasing after the mysterious specter who had run off with her clothes.

Slowly, watching the girl's retreating back, Moana tried standing up again.

"Thanks," she whispered to the ocean. "once we're safely out here, and when we start telling this story to the kids in the village, I'm definitely going to make sure they know that _you_ were the real hero this time; that's a promise. For now, though, let's go get Maui."

Moana felt the water rushing along beside her as she again began marching purposefully towards the two taniwha.

At first, they seemed totally disinterested in her presence. Then, as she got closer, they both turned lazily and regarded her with blank, blink-eyed stares. It wasn't until Moana got right up to the gates of Hine-nui-te-po's palace that either taniwha made any real effort to stop her. The one on the right leaned slowly in towards her, cocked its head to one side, then the other, and then, spreading its large, leathery wings ever-so-slightly for balance, it stuck out its snakelike tongue and very gingerly tasted her shoulder.

Moana froze.

It wasn't a slimy or really unpleasant sensation, she reflected nervously. It certainly didn't feel the way that she'd ever have expected being licked by a dragon to feel, and it wasn't all that scary, either, as long as she didn't look too long at the rows of giant, sparkling, pointy teeth lining the taniwha's only slightly-open mouth.

After only a moment, the first taniwha apparently lost interest, and the one on the left took its turn. This one, Moana decided, was actually slightly larger, and the coloration around the jaws and eye sockets was a little different, too. This one did look scary, but it also looked bored. Moana held herself perfectly still, and carefully reminded herself to breath as it tasted her. Then having taken even less time than the first taniwha, it pulled its head back and settled into its guarding position again.

Unhindered, Moana took two hesitant steps towards the palace, and then hurried through the archway before either dragon could change its mind.

The inside of the palace was sincerely, breathtakingly beautiful. It was brightly lit with candles that somehow didn't let the water snuff them out, and full of the dancing, colorful, shimmering patterns made by the sun as it shone through the sea. There were hundreds of dark wooden archways leading off in every direction, and, for a fleeting moment, Moana wondered where they all went and how many people might live in this place. Were these all the homes of the dead chiefs that her mother and grandmother had told her the legends about, chiefs who had done great deeds and were honored by the gods with a special place in the afterlife? Did the goddess just have a lot of servants who lived in the palace to look after her needs? What exactly were her needs? Through one doorway, Moana thought she could see an earth-oven, which didn't make a lot of sense, considering the dead didn't need to eat, did they? What was the oven for?

The idea that the oven might be used for some kind of burn-related torture crossed Moana's mind, and she suddenly wasn't nearly as curious anymore. Maui was through one of these doorways, and, she decided, it was probably the one lined with blue coral and seemingly perfect pearls, jewels of the sea that marked the goddess's throne room, maybe. At least, pearls were the sort of thing that Moana would have expected an under-the-sea goddess to decorate with. It occurred to her that it might not be a bad idea to do a little more research on the ruler of the kingdom of the dead, just in case her people ever needed that information in the future, for any further adventures in the underworld that she hoped she, personally, didn't have to have. Why was it, she wondered, that the humans knew so little about the gods? Prayer and presents would probably be a heck of a lot easier if they had just a little more insight into what the gods were really like, and it was honestly just a little strange that there wasn't more information about this in the ancient legends. Then again, it wasn't as though a lot of people ever came back from vacations in Rarohenga. Moana made a note to meet with the council on this subject if she ever made it out of here alive.

"There," whispered Moana. "Let's try that one first."

Beside her, the ocean rippled its agreement, but it sounded almost as tense as Moana felt.

"We're out of options," she reminded it. "I get how stupid this is, but what else am I supposed to do? Look, let's just go in there and play it by ear. Who knows, maybe she's not home."

The ocean made a doubtful burble, but Moana ignored it.

Carefully, as quietly as she could so as not to drawn any unnecessary attention to herself, Moana crept through the doorway and into the throne room of the goddess of the dead.

The moment she entered the room, she saw Maui crouched on the far side of the room, with one arm chained by the wrist to the wall behind him. His eyes were wild and dark, like he'd been under some sort of stress or terrible strain, but Moana was insanely relieved to see that, otherwise, he seemed totally unhurt.

"Maui!" She started to rush towards him, but the look on his face changed abruptly, stopping her in her tracks. His mouth had fallen open in surprise, and for a moment he looked horrified.

"M-Moana," he mumbled. "You…?"

Moana suddenly had a suspicion that she knew what the problem was.

"What? Me? No, no, no, no, no. Nope. Look." Blowing on her forearm, she displaced a bunch of the white sand, revealing the much healthier color of skin beneath. "See? Good disguise, though, right? It was the ocean's idea. Oh, man, though, I didn't think it'd be good enough to fool even you!"

She grinned hopefully.

"Uh." Maui blinked, then swallowed hard and shook his head.

"I think," he muttered, "that you may have just taken several years off my life…and that shouldn't be possible, for, uh, obvious reasons."

He smiled again, and it was a real Maui smile, full of brazen sunshine, which warmed Moana up from the inside out. That, combined with the intense relief, made all the cold, wet, and misery of the realm of the dead feel like it had faded away.

* * *

 **Author's End Note:** Don't worry. I promise to write all about Maui's reaction to the moment of Moana coming to rescue him, but we'll need to see that from his perspective, obviously, so that'll be the very beginning of the next chapter. For now, I have a few things I need to take care of, so I'll see you all tomorrow!


	24. Chapter Twenty-Three

**Author's Note:** Today is not turning out to be a very good day. Maybe some fanfiction will help.

 **Chapter Twenty-Three**

Maui was watching the door with every nerve on the alert when Moana stepped into the room. She had that set, determined look on her face that he'd come to know so well, and for a split-second, his heart leapt, and then, almost instantly, felt like it had frozen over.

Moana was ghastly pale, almost white in the light of the sun shining through the waves above, and she was wearing the cloak of a Turehu, the garment that marked her as a welcome resident of the underworld, and of a servant hand-picked by the goddess herself.

 _It got her after all,_ thought Maui dully, disbelieving. _I…I should never have left her alone…and Hine-nui-te-po probably knew all along. Maybe she drowned trying to come after me. Maybe the ocean took her the moment I left. What…what do I do now?_

"Maui!" Moana called for him, rushed towards him, but Maui wasn't sure what to say. He felt like he couldn't even move. Everything seemed to have sort of slowed down. Nothing felt real.

"M-Moana," he began, wanting to apologize but not sure where the hell to start. "You…?"

 _I'm so sorry,_ he thought, but that felt stupid, meaningless, and it only made him angrier at himself. _Really? That's all I've got? 'I'm so sorry?' Pathetic lot of good that does her now…but at least I'm not alone anymore._

That horribly selfish thought took him by surprise, and he sunk his head down on his chest, disgusted with himself, no longer even willing to look her in the eye.

Moana stopped, frowned, and looked surprised. There was still plenty of life in her eyes, Maui realized and, now that he thought about it, what was she doing in a red and gold cloak, if she'd been drowned in the sea? Red and gold were the colors of-!

""What? Me? No, no, no, no, no. Nope." Moana shook her head emphatically. "Look!" She blew hastily on her forearm, displacing a lot of white sand which floated away in the water, revealing the healthy, vital brown skin of her bare arm. "See? Good disguise, though, right? It was the ocean's idea. Oh, man, though, I didn't think it'd be good enough to fool even you!"

She grinned, vivacious as always, absolutely alive, and Maui wondered, as about forty different confusing and rather uncomfortable emotions bombarded him all at the same time, if this was what a heart attack felt like.

"Uh," he mumbled, shaking his head, waiting for the relief to stop hurting quite so much so that he could find the words again. ""I think that you may have just taken several years off my life…and that shouldn't be possible, for, uh, obvious reasons."

He hazarded a smile, and Moana, looking almost as happy as he suddenly felt, threw her arms around his neck and hugged him hard.

Gingerly, still just a little afraid to believe, Maui wrapped his arms around her and held her against his chest. She felt real, warm, definitely human and still undeniably alive, and that gave him confidence. He hugged her tighter, brushed his lips hesitantly against her hair, suddenly very unwilling to let her go.

"I'm so sorry," he mumbled, and he meant it. "This was, uh…really dumb."

"Well, yeah," agreed Moana, grinning even more broadly, now. "I'll be honest with you, wasn't the best decision you've ever made, but we can talk about that later…and just so you know, Maui, we _are_ going to talk about this later. Might be a good idea for us to set down some ground rules about when it's not okay to play the hero…. but that's for later. Right now, let's just worry about getting out of here."

She pulled away, and he, reluctantly, released her.

They both looked up to find Hine-nui-te-po standing in the doorway, glaring at them with the full force and presence of an enraged, all-powerful goddess from the dawn of time. There was nothing even remotely beautiful about her face now. She'd contorted it into a kind of maliciously miserable grimace, and the amount of angry fire in her eyes looked like it might have set the room ablaze at any time, even at the bottom of the sea.

Moana sucked in a sharp breath.

"Oh," she whispered. "I…uh-oh."

"It's okay," Maui assured her, shaking his head. "She can't hurt us anymore."

Moana gave him an extremely doubtful look.

"Really?" She frowned nervously. "Because she sure looks like she's going to try." Dropping to her knees before Hine-nui-te-po, Moana bowed her head low. "Please, goddess, I understand how angry you are, and I know you have every right to your rage, and your feelings…but I beg you, _please,_ let him go. I'll…I'll do whatever you need me to do."

"Moana," began Maui, but she wasn't listening.

"I don't know what I CAN do," Moana went on earnestly, "but I want to make this right. I want to stop your pain…but I won't let you kill him. I'll do whatever it takes, but I'm not leaving without him. Oh, and if you kill me, then you'll lose the ocean."

She glanced over her shoulder at an empty patch of water behind her. There was a nervous sort of swish as the current unexpectedly reversed direction, showing Maui that the ocean wasn't too thrilled about this either, but that it definitely wasn't ready to contradict Moana on the subject.

Hine-nui-te-po raised an eyebrow in surprise, and directed her next remark at the open sea.

"You, then," she murmured, sounding genuinely hurt. "You…would betray me, too? I never thought…"

The water rose up around her and danced around her head, leaving droplets in her hair, but Hine-nui-te-po just gave a derisive little snort, and batted them away.

"So be it, then," she whispered. "So be it."

"Moana." Maui struggled to his feet, although he still couldn't seem to wrench his chains off the wall. "You can get up, it's okay. We're done, here. You've already won."

"Huh?" Moana blinked. "What do you mean?"

"I'm holding you to your oath, Hine-nui-te-po, goddess of the dead." Maui didn't smirk. He didn't crow. He didn't hold his triumph over her head. Instead, he stared hard at the goddess until their eyes locked, then held out his shacked arm to her and gave her an expectant look.

"With the ocean as your witness," he reminded her, "you promised that if she came for me, you'd let us both go free."

Moana gasped.

"You said you'd never come after her or her people ever again," he went on. "You heard that too, didn't you?"

Maui glanced into the water, and the ocean bubbled its agreement.

"There's no way out of this one." He shook his head at Hine-nui-te-po. "Guess you were wrong about mortals all along, huh? Maybe that'll mean something someday; I don't know. Anyway, now, you need to keep your promise. Let me out."

He glanced significantly at the shackles on his wrist, and Hine-nui-te-po sneered at him.

"As you say, Maui of the Wind and Sea," she hissed. "I suppose…there is a lesson to be learned here, after all."

He didn't like the way she said it; not at all, but she did come forward and removed a key from somewhere in her hair, unlocking Maui's bonds and setting him free. Then she took a few steps back and simply watched both him and Moana with emptiness in her eyes.

The moment Maui had his arm back, he spun around and snatched his fish hook off the wall, using both hands to wrench the thing forcibly out of its chains.

"All right, Moana," he said, holding it out in front of him, menacing Hine-nui-te-po with the curved blade as he started forward. "Let's go."

Moana looked uncertain for a moment, gazing back and forth between him and Hine-nui-te-po.

"This wasn't what I wanted," she whispered, more to Hine-nui-te-po to Maui. "I'm…I'm sorry."

Hine-nui-te-po just snorted a single, mirthless laugh.

"What was it you wanted, little girl?" She rolled her eyes. "A happy ending? There are no happy endings. Look around you; in the end, we are all in the same…boat, I think you'd put it. I'll be seeing you again. We won't be strangers…don't worry."

She smiled, and Moana looked beside her into the empty ocean.

A jet of water reared up behind Hine-nui-te-po, resting gently on her shoulder, playing with her hair.

Hine-nui-te-po jerked fiercely away, striking the water with the back of her hand, sending it spraying out in all directions.

"Traitor," she muttered. "You, at least, I cannot dismiss. If we cannot be friends, then we must at least be hostile neighbors. For now, go with the girl. I've no more use for you."

The jet of water retreated, dissipated, melted into the sea all around it with a sad little splashing noise.

"The ocean was only trying to make things right," insisted Moana. "It didn't want to see you hurting any more. The only reason it helped me at all was because-!"

" _GO_ ," snarled the goddess, turning on Moana with her eyes blazing.

Moana swallowed hard, then rushed out quickly through the door that led into the rest of the palace.

Maui took a few steps after her, and then turned and gazed at the goddess. She was standing stock-still, with her eyes cast down, and Maui realized that, when he walked out, he'd be leaving her entirely alone, without even the ocean to comfort her, now.

"Hey," he began uncertainly. "L-listen, beautiful. I…I'm sorry about what I did. I never thought…well, I guess that's it. I never thought. I didn't think about who it would hurt. I guess I…didn't care. I was wrong. I wish I could take it back."

Hine-nui-te-po didn't respond, and Maui, a little worried, reached a hand out towards her.

Without warning, the goddess's head snapped up, and she was staring directly into his eyes, all the fire, rage, misery, and triumph alive again. She snatched his hand and held it tightly in a vice-like grip that Maui found he couldn't shake off, no matter how he tried.

"You can't take it back," she whispered. "'Sorry' isn't enough. Apologies won't correct what you've done. It isn't that simple, Maui, darling, not this time…. but I will have something for my sorrow, I will have something from you. If I can't have you for eternity, then neither will the rest of the world. I promised you I'd let you go with the girl, but I never committed to letting you leave intact, now, did I?"

Maui tried desperately to jerk his hand away, but Hine-nui-te-po turned it over, took her other hand and sunk her nails deeply into the flesh of his palm.

"You said," he managed, "that you wouldn't give me any trouble. You made an oath!"

"Death," murmured the goddess sweetly, "isn't trouble, oh Maui of the Wind and Sea. Death is the end of all trouble…and I am going to give you that blessing. What good is immortality to a man who doesn't appreciate it? If you want to be like those precious mortals so much, then you can…you can be JUST like them. You can age, and wither, and die just like them…painfully, slowly, over time. That seems fair, doesn't it? No, Maui, I'm not going to kill you…but someday, life will leave you…and then I'll have you back with me again. I can wait that long. I waited over two thousand years the last time. I oh-so-patient, darling."

The deeper Hine-nui-te-po's nails went into his skin, the more nauseous Maui felt, as though something strong, powerful, uplifting was being sucked out of him through his fingers. His legs felt suddenly unsteady, but he managed to stay on his feet as the last vestiges of his immortality shot through his fingernails, out into the ocean beyond. Finally, the goddess finally released his hand which, now bleeding from several punctures on his palm, fell limply to his side.

"And now," breathed Hine-nui-te-po, "you have what you've always wanted. You're mortal! I'd say you're human, except that you're still technically a bizarre abomination who can shapeshift into animal forms at will, so I suppose you're more monster than human, really. I'm not at all sure I feel like arguing the semantics of it, honestly. Anyway, you're free to go. Have a nice lifetime, Maui, darling. After all, you've only got one left."

She shook her head, smiling wryly to herself, then swept past him through the door and out onto the palace grounds.

Maui stood very still for a moment, his head reeling, wondering if what she'd said was even remotely true.

He didn't want to believe it. He didn't, honestly, feel all that different. He wasn't struggling, or feeling particularly weak or frail anymore. The only lingering trace of Hine-nui-te-po's final curse, in fact, was the blood oozing from the wounds in his hand, and the after-taste of that strange, sinking, pulling sensation that he'd felt a few moments ago, like the life had quite literally been sucked out of him.

"Maui?" Moana was suddenly in the doorway, looking alarmed. "Are you okay? Aren't we leaving? What happened? I thought you were right behind me, and then I turned around, and-!"

"I'm, uh, fine," mumbled Maui, shaking his head and hurrying to join her. "Sorry. Just wanted the chance to make my apologies to the goddess. Worked last time; I figured it couldn't hurt this time, either. I figured there's no point in leaving things unsaid."

Moana smiled.

"You're getting the hang of this compassion thing," she told him, taking him gently by the arm. "We might make something human out of you, yet! Come on…let's go home."

 _Home,_ thought Maui, no longer entirely sure where that was.

Making a fist out of his throbbing hand, he placed it carefully at his side, where Moana couldn't see the blood.

"Okay," he agreed. "That sounds…it sounds great. Lead the way, Moana."

 **Author's End Note:** I know, we have a little bit of Hercules going on here, but I'm willing to own that.

In other news, just as I was finishing this story, I got an interview request from a local preschool. Things are looking up…


	25. Chapter Twenty-Four

**Author's Note:** Well, I'm afraid I've hit a bit of a life setback.

I woke up this morning with a terrible migraine and sort of dully unhappy feeling that something wasn't quite right. It's a hard feeling to put into words.

Things didn't get better as the day went on. I found that I had to read Chapter Twenty-Three four times over in order to catch all the grammatical mistakes I'd made while writing it, which is embarrassing for someone like me, who makes a living out of knowing how to use a semicolon properly.

Hoping to improve my mood, I went to the movies, which proved to be a huge mistake. I won't tell you what I saw, so as not to spoil anything for you, but I ended up crying through the last thirty minutes of the movie…and then I discovered that I couldn't stop.

Forty-five minutes later, when David came home from work, I was still crying. He's very good at handling this sort of thing, and is pretty used to it by now, since it's been eleven years since my brain injury, and we do have this problem sometimes in my household.

Unfortunately, I seem to be having what I affectionately refer to as a "stupid brain episode," or a period of time during which my brain chemistry is not functioning at its highest due to a very serious injury I received some years ago in a car accident. This is likely to result in blurriness, headaches, insomnia, nausea, and irrational mood swings. The doctors have explained to me that these episodes have something to do with proteins not replenishing as they should. I am not myself a doctor, and so I've taken their words for it. They only way that I know to solve these brain episodes is to take it much easier for a few days, and sometimes to stay away from bright shiny confusing things like computers or the harsh light of day. :-p

Nothing bad is going to happen; I'm not to get hurt or any sicker, or anything of that nature. I may, however, have trouble updating for a few days. I'm considering going to stay at my parents' house until the storm blows over, just so that I don't totally screw up David's day-to-day rhythm, and the internet connection there is very slow.

Thanks in advance for your patience. I really do appreciate it.

Now, hopefully, I'll be able to write this next chapter. I'm going to do have to do it a bit more slowly if I don't want to misspell everything, so bear with me. Let's see how this goes.

* * *

 **Chapter Twenty-Four**

Several of the Turehu were standing outside the palace when Moana and Maui emerged. Ngaire and some of the others were glaring, but Moana's Grandma was there as well, grinning from ear to ear and giving Moana two enthusiastic thumbs-up, apparently totally oblivious to the dirty looks she was getting from her sister handmaidens.

Moana smiled and gave her a little wave.

"Maui," she said, turning to face him, "you know the Grandma I'm always telling you about? Well, this is…hey, are you okay?"

Maui looked more than a little dazed, and was staring off into empty ocean, apparently not paying much attention.

"Maui." Moana put her hand on his arm.

He blinked, looked down at her, and then smiled distractedly, nodding.

"Huh? Oh, yeah," he mumbled. "I'm good. You say something?"

Moana reflected that the stress of being dragged down into the underworld and hunted by goddesses and deadly bodies of water was probably starting to get to him at last. Everybody had their limits, after all, and she couldn't really blame him. It was long past time to get both of them back to Motunui.

"This," repeated Moana patiently, "is my grandmother, Tala Waialiki. Grandma, this is-!"

"Oh, I know who THIS is," declared Grandma, grabbing Maui by both shoulders and holding him away from her to take a good, slightly too-long look at him. "You're the troublemaker who's been giving my Moana all these excuses to go on adventures, aren't you? Never thought I'd meet you in person…and you're not exactly what I expected, for a demigod, but I bet you get that a lot, don't you?"

Maui looked sort of startled, then shrugged dully and said, "Uh…yeah, you're not exactly what I expected either."

Grandma cackled, then gave Maui a hearty slap on the back and released him, nodding at Moana.

"This one," she leaned in and whispered to Moana, "is going to be a handful. Good for you, girl, and good luck. It's not every woman who can say she's bagged a demigod, you know! Hah!"

Moana flushed, shaking her head emphatically.

"Grandma," she insisted, "I, uh, think you've got it wrong. Maui and I aren't…I mean, we're not exactly…right? Maui? Hey, back me up, here!"

Moana had expected Maui to object to Grandma's obvious and embarrassing mistake right away, but instead he was just watching Moana's face expectantly with an eyebrow raised, like he was just as interested in her answer as Grandma was.

"Uhhhh….aaaaanyway." Moana coughed. "Really great to see you, Grandma, but I think we'd better get going."

"All right then." Grandma shrugged. "Don't be strangers, now…although I suppose it won't be too long before we're neighbors. No rush, of course, don't you worry. I'm not going anywhere." Again, she grinned.

Moana looked at Maui, who opened his mouth to say something, but then apparently changed his mind. Raising his fish hook over his head, he took a deep breath shut his eyes, and muttered, more to himself than to Moana, "well…she said it would still work. At least…I think she did. Here's hoping."

"Wait," began Moana, "what's that supposed to-?"

Maui swung the fish hook, and then, in a flash, he transformed into a shark, catching the hook in his mouth as it fell. Glancing down at his own fins with some concern in his eyes, he swam in a quick circle, swished his tail experimentally, and then nodded, looking relieved.

"Oh," murmured Grandma, no longer smiling. "Look…you're bleeding."

Maui tried hastily to wipe his bleeding right fin off on a nearby bit of coral, but he wasn't fast enough. Moana saw the five little puncture wounds in the fin, and wondered if maybe he'd scratched himself during a transformation, maybe with his own talons, just like he'd raked her back when he'd carried her in hawk form.

"Go on, Moana," encouraged Grandma, giving Moana a friendly shove towards Maui. "Looks like your ride is here."

Maui held out his left fin to Moana, and she took a quick look over it to make sure that it, too, wasn't injured. Then she hung on tight, kicking aggressively with her legs as Maui propelled them both up to the surface and out of Rarohenga.

 _Hopefully,_ thought Moana fervently, _this will be the very last time._

They broke the surface near the beach of Maui's island, and found the brand-new canoe they had made, re-floated and apparently totally undamaged, waiting for them.

"Huh," said Maui, once he'd climbed into the boat and had returned to his human form. "Looks like the ocean ended up on our side after all. How'd you win it over?"

Moana shrugged.

I told it the truth," she said. "I helped it understand why I wasn't the enemy…how we were really still allies after all. That said, I wouldn't be t _oo_ grateful for the ocean's help. Honestly, if it hadn't been for the ocean, I'd probably have made it down there a LOT sooner."

A jet of water jumped suddenly out of the sea, smacking Moana directly in the face. She spluttered, shook her curls, and then held up her hands in a gesture of apology.

"Okay, okay! _And_ the ocean was responsible for getting that cloak off the Turehu girl, and coming up with the sand idea to help me sneak past the taniwha, so obviously, it played a huge part in your rescue, let's be fair."

The water subsided again, apparently satisfied with that. Rolling her eyes, Moana wrung her hair out over the side of the boat, then tied it hastily back out of her face, and stood up.

"Next stop, Motunui," she said, smiling at Maui. "I don't know about you, but I'm ready for a nap, a meal that doesn't come with a death sentence, and some company that's actually alive. If you're super nice to me on the way home, I may even let you be the one who tells our village elders the story of how you protected me in the underworld while bravely escaping from the clutches of Hine-nui-te-po and her fearsome sea dragons." She winked.

"Hah," mumbled Maui, smiling wryly. "Yeah…that's okay, thanks. Fair's fair, and this time, I'm pretty sure it's your story."

He looked down at his mangled hand again.

"That looks terrible," murmured Moana, taking it gently and turning it over in hers to examine the injured palm. "Does it hurt?"

"No…not really. It's nothing." Maui shook his head. Moana half expected him to pull the hand away from her, but he didn't. Instead, he cleared his throat, obviously uncomfortable, and looked almost disappointed when she carefully returned the hand, placing it back, palm-down, on his knee.

"So," she asked, "how'd it happen? Or, is it something embarrassing you don't want to tell me, like, you cut yourself on a bunch of coral when you weren't paying attention?" She gave him a teasing grin, but he didn't return it. "I'm sure we can turn it into a great story, if we try. 'Maui, Hero to All was fighting bravely with the goddess of death when she stabbed him with one of the five-pronged wooden stakes she kept hanging on the palace walls!' Or, you know, something like that. We'll work on it."

"Hey, Moana," interrupted Maui, obviously thinking about something else. "Did you, uh, mean that stuff you said to the ocean, back on the island?"

"Hmm?" Moana frowned. "Mean what stuff?"

Maui seemed to have a hard time navigating that question and, to Moana's amazement, he flushed.

"Um, you know, the stuff about…well, me."

Moana continued to look blank. "What stuff about you exactly? Sorry, but it's kind of been a long day, and you've been sort of the center of attention for a while, so I've told a lot of people a lot of things about you. You're gonna have to be a little more specific."

"Right." Maui gave up, waving that away with one hand and sitting back in the boat. "Forget it, nevermind. Stupid question, anyway. I mean, you wouldn't have said it if you hadn't meant it, so…"

He trailed off, staring out to sea, and Moana raised an eyebrow at him.

"Yeah, uh, I'm completely lost," she admitted. "Are we talking about something? Because I get the sense that we're talking about something, but I have no idea what it is. Is there a reason why you're being so…weirdly vague, all of a sudden?"

"I told you to forget about it," muttered Maui.

Moana shrugged. "Sure, okay. You're the one who brought it up in the first place. We can drop it…whatever it is."

Swinging the boat around, Moana set a course for Mount Motunui, reminding herself that, when Maui's hand was feeling a bit better, it would be a good idea to ask him if he could please put the island back in the sea where it belonged.

"Hey," began Maui, "so, I've got a hypothetical for you."

"Uh…okay." Moana gave him a doubtful look. "What is it?"

"Let's say," Maui went on, "that you've got a chance to meet one of your two heroes of legend, right? Let's say we're talking about, um…okay, Kupe, the mortal Octopus-hunter who discovered a bunch of islands across the sea, or Tangaroa, god of the ocean. If you could spend a day hanging out with either of those two people, who would you pick? Like, which one do you think would be cooler to get to know?"

Moana stared.

"Look," insisted Maui, "it's a serious question. Just think about it."

Moana couldn't imagine what was serious about the question, but she shrugged and gave it some thought.

"Well," she said slowly, chewing thoughtfully on her lip. "I guess the Octopus hunter _was_ pretty cool, but didn't he kill his brother and steal his wife, or something like that?"

"His cousin," Maui corrected her, "but, yeah, basically. Still, he was a lean, mean, Octopus-fighting machine…with pretty much super strength! That's gotta count for something, right?"

"Maybe," agreed Moana, "but…okay, if I'm being honest, then I think I'd rather meet Tangaroa, assuming he doesn't try to kill me like most of the gods I've met so far have done. I mean, and we know this first hand, it'd be really nice to have a god on our side, and anything I could learn from Tangaroa would help me to become a better wayfinder, a better, sailor, and a better Chief to my people, probably. Plus, Tangaroa's been around since before the dawn of time, or so they say, and he'd probably have a lot to teach me about my ancestors and the tribes that came before ours…so yeah, yeah, I'm sure I'd rather meet Tangaroa…not that Kupe wasn't cool. He was cool, but…well, you get what I'm saying."

"I was afraid you'd say that," mumbled Maui, sighing. "So, we're going with the God. Figures. Are you sure? Super strength doesn't do it for you? What if it was Tangaroa, and um…oh, and that one guy who could turn into a dragon. Tuhisomething. Tuhirangi, he could turn into a dragon. That's pretty badass, right? If you had to choose between him and the sea-god, who would you-?"

"Maui." Moana sighed. "I kinda get the feeling there's something we're not talking about, here. What is it you're actually trying to say?"

Maui looked down at his right hand again.

"Nothing important," he mumbled. "Tell you what, we'll talk about it when we get back to the village. Your parents are probably freaking out, right now. Let's just focus on getting home."

Moana didn't really want to let the matter go, but Maui had a point. Even with the ocean on their side, she needed to focus on what she was doing in order to get them back to Motunui as quickly as possible. There were some ugly, dark clouds on the horizon that were making her nervous, possibly indicating a coming storm.

"Fine," she agreed, "but we'll talk about it later, okay? romise?"

Maui nodded reluctantly.

"Sure," he sighed. "On my honor as a…well, yeah, I promise."

* * *

 **Author's End Note:** …and there we have a little character development for your Monday evening.

Tomorrow is another day. For now, I'm going to close my eyes for a bit, listen to my Moana soundtrack, and remember that the world is a good place and that we can try again in the moning.

Night, everybody! Thanks for reading.


	26. Chapter Twenty-Five

**Author's Note:** Hello friends! I have two headaches, but I really want to write…so I'll try. If the chapter turns out too terribly, then I'll stop, I promise.

* * *

 **Chapter Twenty-Five**

Maui was uncharacteristically quiet for most of the voyage back to Motunui. He had a lot on his mind; possibly more than he'd had to think about for the last several thousand years.

He watched Moana steering from the prow of the boat, one hand resting lightly on the mast as she scanned the horizon with that calculating, concentrated, half-squinty look in her eyes, and her hair all over the place in the breeze. She was remarkable, striking, beautiful in sort of a weird and unexpected way that didn't really tie in with the concept he'd once had of what great beauty was supposed to look like.

Contrary to popular myth and legend, Maui was neither totally comfortable nor very experienced in love. Oh, there had been women; actually, there had been hundreds of women over the years, mostly star-struck mortal girls who'd grown up on their elders' tales of gods and monsters, girls who were dazzled by the idea of being an adventuress who won the heart of a bad-boy hero. Sometimes, they were pretty young wives of village chiefs who ran off for a temporary escape from a husband twice or even three times their age. Maui was their rebellion, and, in a little way, they had been his. In the end, though, no one ever got hurt. The girls would go back to their homes, full of the excitement of having had a little harmless legendary romance they would be able to tell the grandchildren about, and Maui sailed off to another island, another village paradise, having temporarily satisfied his taste for companionship, and comfortably but completely alone.

This was different. This time, he was uncomfortably aware that if she left, he'd feel the absence. He'd already felt it, years before, starting the moment he'd flown away and left her to sail back to Motunui after they'd restored the Heart of Te Fiti. That had been a strange surprise, especially since she'd been just some little girl he'd known for only a few days. It hadn't made any sense. He'd figured it'd pass.

It wasn't going to pass, he realized now. Moana was someone inexplicably special, and Maui was starting to get nervous. He was way, way out of his depth and, as far as he could tell, she hadn't even really noticed yet.

Hine-nui-te-po had noticed, though. Maui wondered to himself if he'd known already, or if she'd been the one to make him realize just far in over his head he really was. Maybe it was really some complicated combination of the two, or maybe it didn't matter.

"Maui?" Moana called his name, and Maui snapped out of his romantic reverie so fast that he almost gave himself whiplash. "Um, everything okay? You're awfully…pensive? Seasick?" She gave him a teasing, slightly malicious little grin, and Maui's heart did that unsettling somersault thing again.

 _Oh man…I've got it really bad,_ he thought, snorting a self-deprecating little laugh under his breath. _Yep, I'm in trouble._

"I don't get seasick," he said aloud, making a face at her. "Demigod of the Wind and _Sea,_ remember? Hey, and I taught you everything you know about sailing."

"You taught me some things," Moana admitted, "after the ocean forced you, but most of it I learned by doing.

"The only reason you didn't end up drowned in the first place," Maui reminded her, "was that the ocean had your back…until you found me. After that, let's be honest, it was mostly me."

"You helped," agreed Moana graciously. "Okay? I'll give you that."

"So generous," Maui muttered, rolling his eyes. "Are we there, yet?"

By way of an answer, Moana pointed across the prow of the boat to where something larger than it should have been was looming on the horizon.

"Oh, yeah," mumbled Maui. "I forgot that it's a mountain, now."

"Yes." Moana frowned. "So, about that…do you think that maybe, now that the ocean's on our side and everything, you could put Motunui back?"

"Uh…." Maui, unfortunately, had forgotten about that as well . Shooting a glance at his injured right hand, he rubbed uncomfortably at the back of his neck and muttered, "So, um, about that, Moana. Listen, I-!"

"Oh, of course!" Moana followed his gaze, stared at his hand, and then shook her head emphatically. "I'm so sorry! I didn't even think. You're injured. You can't move mountains right now. It's okay, it can wait! But, I mean, you know, when you're feeling better, if you could…maybe get the village back down to the water level so that we can go fishing again, that would be amazing. We can talk about it tomorrow, okay?"

She smiled, all sympathy and sincerity and impatience, and Maui couldn't bring himself to admit to the sinking feeling in his stomach.

"Y-yeah," he agreed, grinning desperately. "Sure. I'll, uh, take care of it. No sweat."

"Great!" Moana beamed. "I knew I could count on you! I'm sure everyone will be so relieved. They're probably getting pretty hungry by now, actually."

 _I really hope you're right about that whole counting on me thing,_ thought Maui, sitting down in the stern and watching as they drew closer and closer to Motunui.

Someone in the village must have been on the lookout for them, because most of the people were clustered around the square when Maui arrived in hawk-form, with Moana on his back. Tui and Sina rushed to embrace her as Maui became human again.

 _Not quite a human,_ he heard Hine-nui-te-po reminding him in the back of his brain. _More monster than human, right? Ugh._

"Come on, Maui!" Moana was grinning at him with one eyebrow raised. "Aren't you going to tell everyone about how you bravely offered to sacrifice yourself to protect our people from the ocean? Mom, Dad, talk about a real-life hero! You would not believe this guy!"

There was a murmuring and a whispering all around him, and Maui became aware, to his surprise, that several of the villagers were nodding and smiling at one another, pointing and gesturing in his direction without any trace of malice or suspicion.

Moana winked at him and then leaned over to whisper in his ear. "See? I told you that you'd win them over eventually! I guess bringing the Chief back in one piece not once but twice made some real headway. You're welcome!"

"Heh." Maui chuckled. "Thanks?"

Sina rushed forward and gave Maui a big, undignified, and totally unexpected hug, reminding him instantly of Moana, which made him feel like grinning like an idiot.

"Maui of the Wind and Sea," she said, taking a step back to smile at him, "thank you for not letting our daughter drown, get eaten by sharks, be killed by the goddess of death, or accidentally destroy the island. She's lucky to have found you…really."

"We are all very fortunate," murmured Tui. "Please, I ask that you remain in our village as our guest for at least the next few days. We'll have a feast in your honor…and I'm sure a certain young woman would be more than pleased if you were here to help her celebrate the beginning of her twenty-first year, which, I'm pretty certain, is only a few days away."

"Oh!" Moana looked startled. "I…actually, I totally forgot. Oops."

"Having a birthday, huh? Nice." Maui nodded. "Uh, yeah, it's not like I've got any big plans. I could stick around for a few days…I mean, if you want, Moana."

Maui, Tui, and Sina all turned expectantly to Moana.

"Yeah." Moana nodded, smiling at Maui. "Yeah…I'd like that."

Maui felt that stupid smile coming on again, but he turned the urge to grin into a cough, and made a point of looking serious and thoughtful.

"Well, in that case," he announced, "how can I say no? It would be my pleasure to grace your twenty-first birthday with my presence, Moana of Motunui. A hero has to be where his people need him, after all."

"His people, huh?" Moana laughed. "Sure, okay. In that case…I need a hero."

Maui bit down hard on the stupid grin, which he was now having a really hard time keeping under control.

"After all" Moana reminded Maui. "you still have to put back the island, remember? You have to stay until then, at least."

Maui's face fell, as the ugly truth came back to kick him hard in the back of the brain.

"Oh, yeah," he muttered. "I did say I would do that, didn't I. Yep. That happened."

That seemed to excite the rest of the villagers even more, and Tui and Sina looked so pleased that Maui began seriously considering transforming himself into a beetle and hiding under the nearest rock, which wouldn't have fit so well with his new image as village savior.

"Actually," he began, slowly backing away from the group of expectant onlookers, "if you guys don't mind, I've gotta…you know?"

"Oh. Of course." Tui nodded at him, and Maui took the opportunity to hurry off into the woods.

Once he was finally alone and could no longer hear the voices of the villagers, probably discussing him back in the square, Maui walked slowly through the trees until he found the biggest, tallest, thickest, heaviest-looking totara he could. No mortal man would have been able to uproot the thing without a few axes and several enthusiastic helpers. It would have taken the strength of ten men, and so it was exactly the sort of thing that Maui should have been able to do with a little masculine grunting and minimal amounts of sweat, blood, and tears.

Laying his fish hook on the ground at his feet, Maui squatted down, wrapped his arms around the tree, squared his shoulders, and lifted with his legs.

Nothing happened. The tree didn't even shift in the dirt.

"Nnngh…" More aggressively, Maui pulled, tugged, wrenched, squeezed and yanked, but the tree remained still and upright, completely undisturbed by his efforts.

After straining for several minutes, Maui gave up, exhausted, and sat back on the ground, staring dejectedly at the tree trunk.

He'd been afraid that this would happen. As it turned out, he was more human than monster after all.

 _The fish hook still works,_ he realized. _Me, on the other hand…I'm busted. No more super strength, no more special demigod gifts and talents. I'm about as mundane and mortal as it gets, unless you count the "turning into a hawk," thing, which is bound to go over great at parties for however long I have left. One thing's for sure, though…I'm not putting Motunui back in the sea any time soon. You can pull an island out of the water with a fish hook, but you can't push it back in with one. This is…really bad._

Picking up his hook, he stood for a moment staring at the tree, then shook his head, straightened himself up, planted a smile on his face and strode back out to meet the village, acutely aware that it was time to tell someone the truth before he made any more promises that he couldn't keep…probably.

 _Then again,_ he reflected, _let's not get ahead of ourselves. There might still be…some way out of this. I'll sleep on it; that's a good idea. Man, I don't think I've ever been so tired…_

* * *

 **Author's End Note:** A point about Maui and mythology; it is somewhat unclear whether or not Maui actually had super strength or any kind of special god-given powers, or if his only magical gifts came from the fish hook itself. For the purposes of this story, we're assuming that his demigod status did give him some special talents, like the ability to pull islands out of the sea, etcetera, and that it wasn't all just because of the magical fish hook. I think it can really be interpreted either way in the legends, and so I'm taking some liberties here. Thanks for understanding!

Oh my dear sweet tapdancing merciful lord, it's after midnight, I'm supposed to be staying away from the computer, and I just realized that tomorrow is Thursday. Auditions for my next play start tomorrow. I need to be asleep, like, an hour ago. Please excuse me. I was never here. You never saw anything, right?


	27. Chapter Twenty-Six

**Author's Note:** You all have been unbelievably kind, thoughtful and encouraging in the comments that you've left on my work, even about my author's notes! I'm deeply, deeply touched and gratified. You're all lovely people, do you know that? I hope you know that, because it is absolutely true. Thank you so much. My head is feeling much better, for now.

For the next…oof, almost 24 hours I will be auditioning both friends and strangers to perform in my theater company's upcoming production of Much Ado About Nothing. There are seventeen roles, large and small, and we're currently looking at over 40 actors potentially coming out to fill those roles.

It is going to be a rather long, very exhilarating couple of days. I will try to update a couple of times this weekend, if only to relieve some stress!

I'm ready for some stress relief right now, aren't you?

* * *

 **Chapter Twenty-Six**

After meeting with the village council and delivering the happy news that the ocean was now on her side again, Moana walked back out into the square just in time to see Maui, with his hook raised over his head, as though he was about to transform.

"Hey," she asked, walking up behind him. "What are you doing?"

Startled, Maui spun around, dropped the hook in his surprise, and swallowed.

"Nothing," he assured her." Me? What? I'm uh…nothing. Doing nothing, yep, that's me. Not a thing. Uh, how are you?"

Moana had a suspicion that she knew exactly what he was doing. Smiling, she pointed an accusing finger at him.

"You were about to go back to the ocean, weren't you…to go fishing?" She shook her head at him. "You know, I didn't believe it when I first met you, but sometimes, when you're trying hard, there are some very, very heroic things about you after all…but don't expect to hear me say that again. Oh, but if you're going down to the sea, I'll come with you. We'll be able to carry more fish, that way."

"Uhhh…no." Maui took a hasty step away from her. "Thanks, but I don't need any help. Pretty sure I got too much fish last time, anyway, so it's not like we need to carry more. I'll be fine."

"You don't want a little company?" Glancing over her shoulder at her parents' house, Moana sighed. "Okay, come on, if you leave me in the village by myself, Mom and Dad will remind me of all the 'important, Chiefly duties' I've been shirking while you and I were off having adventures, and I won't have a good excuse not to go tally the chicken-feed stores, or to practice my flute before my lesson with the Tohunga in the morning, or…you know, any of that stuff. I _can't_ do any of that, though, if I'm down by the water fishing with you, to feed my people, right? Please? Pretty please? I promise, we can use the harness this time. I won't even argue."

She tried a winning grin, but Maui didn't look even remotely amused.

"Can't," he muttered. "My, uh, shoulders still hurt from our flight back at Rarohenga. I can't carry you right now."

He shrugged and held out his hands in a gesture of apology, and Moana was surprised to notice that the deep, dark gashes in his right palm seemed somehow to have gotten worse. Blood had dried in little patches all over the hand, but around those patches the skin was stained, puckered, drawn and shriveled like old fruit. It looked dry and terribly painful.

"That looks…awful," she mumbled. "Um, I think maybe you should see a healer."

"I told you, I'm fine," he snapped, snatching the hand away from her and tucking it self-consciously behind his back.

"I've never seen a wound like that before," she insisted. "Maui…what happened back there?"

Maui didn't say anything. He looked distant, distracted, like he was thinking hard about something else. Moana realized what she'd already begun to suspect, ever since they'd escaped from Rarohenga; something was more than just a little bit wrong.

"Okay," she began slowly, taking a deep breath and doing her best not to sound like she was pushing him. "Well, if you don't want to tell me, I guess that's fine, but…you probably can't carry that fishing net on your own; not with your hand injured like that. Let me come fishing with you, and I can help you carry your catch back to the village. Deal?"

Maui opened his mouth to argue, then paused, sighed, and deflated.

"I'm not going fishing," he admitted quietly.

"Oh?" Moana frowned. "Then, where are you going?"

It took a moment before Maui answered.

"I have to ask the ocean for a favor," he said eventually

Moana considered the habit Maui had of upsetting the gods and making the ocean's life much more difficult than it needed to be, forcing it to get involved and to sort out the messes he'd made.

"I have an idea," she suggested helpfully, trying to sound casual about it. "How about you tell me what the favor is, and I ask the ocean? Okay?"

Maui gave her a doubtful look.

"Look," sighed Moana, "honestly, of the two of us, I'm more likely to convince the ocean to see my point of view. I think we can both agree on that." She crossed her arms over her chest, shrugged, and added, "I'm just saying, it's a better idea to have me ask, and for you to…whaaaat are you staring at?"

Maui seemed to be suddenly fascinated by the vicinity of Moana's crossed arms. Self-consciously, she dropped her arms to her sides again, glared at him, embarrassed, and coughed.

Maui blinked, and, to Moana's amazement, turned slightly pink.

"Wait, uh…what are you talking about?" He laughed nervously. "I'm not staring. Definitely not staring. It's just, uh, have you always had…?"

He trailed off, and Moana just raised an eyebrow at him.

"What?" she demanded. "Have I always had…what?"

"Absolutely nothing," mumbled Maui, now alarmingly bright red. "Forget about it. Aaaaanyway, you're right. You and the ocean are best buds, so you'd have better luck than me."

Moana, hoping to dispel the weird awkwardness in the air, gave him a smile.

"I thought," she reminded him brightly, "that you and I were best buds."

She'd expected that to cheer him up, but instead, he just looked confused and gave her a slightly pained smile, then turned his back to her.

"Yeah," he mumbled. "Right. Of course we are."

Moana gave up. Everything felt weird, and it wasn't a healthy, normal-Maui kind of weird, either. She had a really bad feeling about this.

"I'll go and get the ropes," she sighed. "Back in a minute. Don't fly off without me, okay?"

Minutes later, they were down by the water, Maui standing in the boat that was, once more, moored to the rocks. Moana slid down off Maui's back, but even after he had changed back into human form, he didn't seem to want to look at her.

"Maui," she began, beginning to lose her patience with this, "what-?"

"I can't put the island back," he said dully.

Moana paused. "What? Why not? Is it your hand? Because I totally understand about that, and, like I said, you don't have to put the island back until you're feeling up to it; I mean, until your hand heals. We can keep going down to the ocean to get fish for a few days until you're well enough. Nobody can blame you for that."

"My hand isn't going to heal," muttered Maui, shaking his head. "This isn't a normal wound, Moana; it's a curse. Hine-nui-te-po put a curse on me. She dug all of the god-like stuff in me out through the palm of my hand…all of my immortality, everything. When she was done, she left a mark to remember her by; to remind me what she'd taken. I'll have this wound forever; I'll die with these holes in my hand."

At first, Moana wasn't sure she'd really understood. The world around had gone strangely slow and cold, the words _my immorality_ standing out red-hot and painful against the back of her brain.

"Wait," she managed finally, "you'll…die? I…I don't understand. She took your…? But, you can still shapeshift, right? So, that means-!"

"My hook works fine," interrupted Maui. "It's the only thing left that's magical. The life force that kept me around for thousands of years is gone. My super strength is gone. Everything that made me a demigod…is gone; everything but the hook. I'm basically a human, now, only with a magical toy. I'm not strong enough to put Motunui back under the water. I can't do it. I'm…I'm sorry."

Turning around, he finally looked Moana in the eye, expectant, obviously waiting for her to react. He was miserable, angry, painfully hopeful, and the knife twisted in Moana's chest.

Her head was reeling.

"Are you," she whispered, feeling suddenly much less confident, much smaller than she'd been before. "Are you…going to die?"

Maui just shrugged.

"Yes," he admitted, "but so are you, remember? I don't see myself keeling over any time soon, if that's what you're worried about."

Moana, who had absolutely been worried, allowed herself a little sigh of relief.

"But, well…yeah," Maui went on, sounding a bit dazed. "Yeah, I guess the Maui party can't go on forever anymore. Honestly…I'm not sure how I feel about it. A little…dunno, confused, I guess. I hadn't really expected it to end so soon, you know?"

"You went down there for me," Moana mumbled. "You knew she might kill you, and you did it anyway…for me. For my people."

"For you," muttered Maui, but Moana wasn't really listening.

"You knew she might kill you if you gave yourself up, and…and she did." Moana just shook her head, bewildered by mortality and the fact that, despite everything, they didn't seem to have gotten their happy ending after all. "I'm so sorry, Maui, I'm…I don't even know what to say."

Tears threatened at the back of her eyes, but Moana valiantly held them back, aware that crying, right now, wouldn't do anyone any good, no matter how desperate and angry she was beginning to feel.

"Don't beat yourself up about it too much," said Maui gently. "It's not your fault. I did this to myself, from the very beginning, and so I paid the price for it. Someday, it'll be a cautionary tale for village kids. Hah. That's a kind of immortality, I guess."

Moana just shook her head.

"Let's get one thing straight, though," Maui went on, looking her directly in the eye again, forcing her to meet his gaze. "I'm not sorry. Maybe I made a few mistakes, maybe more than a few, but going down to Rarohenga to meet Hine-nui-te-po this time wasn't one of them. I'd do it again. I'd do it tomorrow. I'm glad I don't have to, okay, but I'd do it. I made things right…didn't I? Even if it means that I'm just a normal mortal, now, I made things right."

"Yeah," managed Moana, nodding once. "You did, and," she added sincerely, "there's nothing even a little bit 'normal' about you, Maui."

Maui snorted a laugh, and Moana paused, frowned, and then hastily shook her head.

"That's not what I meant," she insisted. "I meant that in a good way. Like, not normal, like, you're special. Oh no, I'm making it worse. I mean, special in a…positive way, you know?"

"Yeah," agreed Maui, giving her a small but very real smile. "I know. Thanks."

Unsure what else to say, Moana reached out and gave Maui a quick, fierce hug, trying to convey somehow that she was on his side, that she had his back, that she cared and wouldn't let anything bad like that happen to him again…even if that wasn't worth too much anymore.

Maui returned the hug, and, somewhat to Moana's surprise, held her much more gently than he ever had before, almost tenderly. It was too careful, not at all like him, and it sent little shivers down her spine, making her frankly dizzy and a little uncomfortable, so she disentangled herself from his embrace and turned quickly to face the sea.

"Okay," she announced, maybe a little too loudly to cover her confusion. "So…what did we want to ask the ocean?"

Behind her, Maui paused for a moment, and then she heard him sigh.

"I need," he told her, "for the ocean to agree to help put Motunui back under the sea."

"Oh." Moana blinked. "That's…um, I hadn't thought of that. It's so…simple and obvious. Uh, yeah, let's try that. Great idea."

"Heh," said Maui. "I try."

* * *

 **Author's End Note:**

So, hear me out, beloved friends. I had this crazy idea.

I teach and edit professionally. I have been seriously considering teaching an online course (probably on Udemy) focused around helping people improve their writing and editing, as well as their characterization, plotting, and scripting. I was thinking of structuring this course around the idea of creating fanfiction, since that's something fun that a lot of people enjoy, and since that's a way of helping people work on their writing skills while still interacting with their most beloved fandoms.

What do you think? Is there any merit in this idea? I'd love to hear your thoughts.


	28. Chapter Twenty-Seven

**Author's Note:** Sorry for having so many days recently with no updates, guys. Thanks for your patience. The play has been cast! Now I just need to sit here for the next several hours waiting for "yes I accept this role" or "no, screw you, Mercy, this role is stupid" calls from the actors so that I can send out the main cast list and schedule the rehearsals…

Nothing to do but write while I wait, is there? *dramatic sigh* Oh well, if I must, I must! ;)

* * *

 **Chapter Twenty-Seven**

After a brief conversation with the ocean and an hour or so spent fishing from the canoe, Maui and Moana returned to the village just in time to deliver lunch.

This time, there were slightly fewer curious lunchtime onlookers, and Maui ate with Moana's family around the side of the house, near the warmth of the earth-oven, where Sina had cooked the whitehead fish he'd brought. Moana sat beside her father and her cousin, Rangi, while her mother and Whetu entertained the cranky old grandmother who Maui now understood was some distant relation, the sister of Rangi's grandfather, or something of that kind.

"So, Maui," began Whetu conversationally and a bit too loudly, obviously doing her best to make up for the nasty glares the old grandmother was giving him. "Don't you think your wife's beginning to get worried about you? How long has it been since you've been home? Weeks? Months? Don't you think you ought to go see her, at least for a few days? If my husband had been away for all that time, I don't know what I'd do."

"Oh," said Maui. "Yeah, well, about that; actually, she's not-!"

"You're married?" Moana looked shocked.

Hastily, Maui shook his head. "Nope, no, I'm not married. No."

The grandmother gave him a nasty look.

"And how do you think Hina would feel, if she heard you say a thing like that, hmm? You're just a man like any other, I suppose. Throw your wife over so easily, don't you, on the hunt for the next hot little thing in a skirt." She sighed.

Tui looked startled and coughed, but Maui couldn't totally deny having had some moments like that in his past, so he didn't take too much offense. He even managed not to look embarrassed.

"Hina," retorted Maui, "probably wouldn't care one way or another, because she's been dead for thousands of years."

He was more than a little maliciously pleased to see the alarmed look on the old grandmother's face.

 _That shut her up pretty fast,_ he thought. _Hah!_

Maui turned back to Moana.

"The legend goes," he explained, "that I had a wife named Hina, right? Major misunderstanding. Look, the truth is, Hina was my older sister; just as mortal as the rest of my family. She and I showed up together to the wedding of some distant cousin of my brother's wife, and since nobody at the party knew her, they figured she was my date. Turned into a whole series of legends about me and the goddess Hina, but none of it's true. I'm not married, she's not a goddess, end of story."

He shot the grandmother a look, but she was just glowering at him, now.

"So, in response to your question, ma'am," he said to Whetu, who he figured had just made an honest mistake, "there's no one waiting for me at home; nothing to worry about there."

He glanced at Moana out of the corner of his eye, half-hoping she'd be obviously relieved to discover that he wasn't taken after all, but instead she just looked interested, and maybe a little sad.

"So," she asked, "were you and your sister close?"

Maui frowned, and wondered if, by mortal standards, they had been close. It had been such a long time ago; nostalgia and resentment had gotten in the way since then. He honestly couldn't remember.

"She didn't tease me as much as my brothers," he admitted slowly. "So, yeah…I mean, Hina was a nice girl. She had a happy life, too, so don't look like that. Died a woman, lots of kids, grandkids, and now everybody talks about her like she was a goddess. Overall, not a bad deal."

"So," muttered the grandmother, "You've been alive for thousands and thousands of years, and you've never been married, not even once? Why, what's wrong with you? Can't get a girl? Wouldn't be surprised."

Maui winced.

"Maui isn't exactly the marrying kind," Moana interjected loyally, narrowing her eyes. "He's a little busy, you know, saving the world, having adventures, creating the islands; things like that. Not everybody wants to have twelve kids and be stuck in the village forever, you know."

The grandmother snorted a derisive little laugh, and Maui could tell by the look on Moana's face that this was an argument she'd had a few times before.

Tui and Sina exchanged a look, but neither of them said anything.

"You just wait, Moana of Motunui," muttered the grandmother, shrugging and beginning to get slowly to her feet. "One day, maybe when you're more of a woman than a little girl, you'll get the itch for a man, and you'll have twelve children before you know what's hit you. Then, you'll be lucky and quite pleased to have the village to protect you and your family. It'll happen, you'll see. Happens to everybody, in the end, and I don't mind saying that I'm going to get a good laugh out of it when it happens to you, young miss."

"Hey," mumbled Rangi, "leave her alone, okay?"

His mother shushed him.

"Moana," said Tui quietly but firmly, "is your Chief, Anahera."

"Then she'd best start acting like it," the grandmother shot back. "She'd better find her place and start giving something back to Motunui for posterity, or what good is she to the Waialiki line, anyway? Not much, if you ask me!" Then, with a wince, she hauled herself upright and stalked off across the village square.

Moana sighed. "Ugh. I hate her."

"Don't say that," murmured Sina. "Just ignore her; in her own way, she thinks she means well."

Moana raised a doubtful eyebrow.

"You'll marry when you're ready," her father added. "When you meet the man who suits you as well as your mother suits me."

Sina shook her head and gave her husband a smile, and Moana, watching that little matrimonial moment, smiled too. Maui felt suddenly a little bit lonely, which he immediately tried to brush off, searching his brain for a subject change.

Rangi spoiled the romantic atmosphere by snorting a laugh.

"Um," he said, "yeah, except, I'm pretty sure the only guy that would suit Moana would be like, some kind of seafaring adventurer covered in war wounds and with tons of enemies for her to fight, because she has this not-so-secret fantasy of being a legendary warrior princess, and some sort of a savior complex."

"I do not!" Moana glared at him.

"Yeah," returned Rangi, "you kinda do. I mean, the problem is, it's not like all the heroes of myth and legend are actually around anymore, and most of them weren't even real, and I'm pretty sure anybody else would just bore you to death, so why settle down? You're fine. Marriage is no big deal. Who needs it?"

Moana's glare became a grin.

"Oh, I get it. Anahera's been at you too to get married soon, huh?" She gave him a sympathetic clap on the shoulder, and Rangi just rolled his eyes.

"I don't want to talk about it," he mumbled. "Okay?"

"Okay, then I have an idea," suggested Moana. "How about we change the subject? I have a surprise for you, Dad; guess who we saw down in Rarohenga? Oh, and she looks _great._ Hasn't changed a bit!"

While Moana went on to tell her parents all about meeting her Grandmother in the underworld, Maui tried not to think too hard about Moana's savior complex. He glanced down at the tattoos on his chest, and thought about what Rangi had said about heroes with enemies and hundreds of war wounds to show for it.

 _Not everybody wants to be stuck in the village forever,_ he thought, watching the animated look on Moana's face as she enthusiastically described the Turehu and the terribly magical realm of the dead.

What Moana had always really wanted, Maui reminded himself, buoyed by the realization, was to see the world and to experience life. Rangi was right, of course; what she probably really craved was a man who understood her admittedly unconventional need for excitement, adventure, and a good if harrowing time.

Maui might not be able to offer her wealth and safety, he told himself, but adventure, doubt, and the consequences of years and years of dangerous life choices; those he had in spades. What better fit could there be for a would-be-warrior princess?

Feeling suddenly a lot more in his element and much more confident, Maui flashed Moana a grin that she, totally unaware of what was going on in his head, didn't return.

"Maui," asked Sina, "more fish? You've barely had two portions…you must still be starving!"

She gave him her sweetest smile, reaching for his bowl, and something in the twinkle in her eye made Maui wonder if maybe, just maybe, Sina knew, somehow, what he'd been thinking. Maybe she'd ever been thinking the same thing.

The truth was, unfortunately, that he couldn't eat another bite. Mortal stomachs, apparently, had limitations. He made a mental note to remember that.

After lunch, and after warning the people of Motunui that it might be a good idea to stay indoors and to hold on tight to something sturdy for a bit, Moana and Maui returned to the path that led up to the village. There, they could sit side-by-side in safety, and watch what was happening to the sea.

The ocean must have noticed their arrival, or have taken their appearance as a signal that it was time, because no sooner had they settled in than the ground began to rumble and shake.

Maui heard gasps and shrieks from the village behind him as people who hadn't heeded their warning the first time rushed to grab their children or to flee into their homes.

Moana kept her eyes fixed on the water, which was rising up on all sides of the island, sucking Motunui greedily back down into the sea. Below, Maui could see a huge, white-water whirlpool, much larger, even, than the one that had taken their canoe out near his island.

"Good old ocean," whispered Moana, smiling. "I'm so glad we have you back."

"It's all thanks to you," Maui reminded her.

Moana just shook her head.

"No," she said. "We did it together."

"If it hadn't been for me," returned Maui, "there would never have been any trouble in the first place, remember? Isn't that what you said, back when you first had to bail me out of Hine-nui-te-po's place?"

"If it hadn't been for you," said Moana shrugging, "we'd never have gone back to Rarohenga. I'd never have made amends with the ocean. None of this would have been solved. It's true, you know, Maui…you really did make things right again. It's okay for you to be proud of that."

There was another impressive tremor as the ocean dragged on the island. Maui struggled to decide if it would be smooth or just stupid to reach over and try casually holding Moana's hand.

"We did it," whispered Moan simply. "I knew we could. Everything's going to be all right, now, after all."

She turned and beamed at him, glowing with all of that enthusiasm and vivacity that made him crazy, and he swallowed hard, gave up on reaching for her hand, and took a deep breath.

"Moana," he began. "Can I, uh…do you have a minute to talk about a, uh, thing? You know, not a big deal, just something I…sorta wanted to run by you. Yeah."

All around them, waves crashed impressively against the rapidly descending island.

Someone in the village was screaming, but neither Maui or Moana took any notice.

* * *

 **Author's End Note:** HUZZAH! So far, 11 out of the 21 actors have accepted their roles! I might not be here until four in the morning after all!

However, I still have a long, long night ahead of me, so thanks for keeping me company while I ride it out.

The story is almost over…or at least, the first part of the story is almost over. I think we're going to have a Part II. Yeah. That seems pretty likely at this point.


	29. Chapter Twenty-Eight

**Author's Note:** Ugh, I ended up going another couple of days without updating. I really am sorry. Unfortunately, at the very beginning of a new show, it's always like this. This will calm down again soon enough, but getting the process started is a full-time job all its own!

We had our first readthrough tonight, and it went VERY well. I'm extremely pleased.

We'll see how it goes from here on out.

Oh, and now…we are reaching the end of part one of our story. Are you ready? I'm not.

* * *

 **Chapter Twenty-Eight**

As the shaking and rumbling of the island finally stopped, Moana looked around, then down at the sea which was now even closer than it had been before. It lapped happily at the beach where the people of Motunui had once moored their fishing boats, where Moana herself had played safely, years and years ago. It hadn't been safe to play by the water's edge for months, and children had avoided the beach, but now, of course, things would be different. The sun sparkling off the waves looked as warm as Moana felt inside, and everything seemed to be right again; almost too perfect.

 _Well, no,_ she corrected herself, glancing over her shoulder at where Maui was trailing along the beach behind her. _Maybe not everything is perfect._

Something, at least, was still definitely wrong with Maui. He'd been humming nervously to himself for the past five minutes, and whenever Moana turned to look at him, he was pointedly looking at something else, like the water, or the trees, or he was staring off at the horizon with ridiculously forced contemplation on his face.

Moana wondered if maybe their recent, uncomfortable lunch conversation was responsible for Maui's awkward mood. She wouldn't have blamed him. All that talk about marriage had certainly given her an unpleasant feeling in her stomach, and Maui was a guest; he shouldn't have had to sit through that sort of family argument. Moana was frankly a little embarrassed about the whole thing.

"Um, about Anahera," she said, sighing. "She's just…you know, she's a little old fashioned, I guess? She doesn't love the idea of having an unmarried female Chief, and she's had issues with my Dad for years, because he, you know, kinda raised me in his own sorta unconventional way, so she just…she takes every chance she can to come at me. I'm, uh, really sorry you had to hear all that, though. I'm not totally sure why Mom didn't shut her up. She usually does."

"Huh?" Maui gave her a distracted sort of smile. "Oh, uh, no worries. Not a big deal."

"The weird thing is," Moana went on, frowning to herself, "that even though I was never really given the choice not to be a chief, it's not like I hate it. I don't hate it. It's not like there are a ton of big dreams that I've been missing out on, or anything, it's just…um, there's a lot of pressure. Everybody kind of expects me to be the kind of chief that their fathers were, and that's…well, that's obviously not going to happen, because there's no way I'm ever going to be exactly like some nostalgic image they've got in their heads of 'the world's greatest island chief.'"

"Yeah," mumbled Maui. "That sounds tough."

Moana shot a quick sidelong look at Maui, and could tell immediately that he wasn't really listening to her. Whatever was on his mind was really holding his attention.

She just sighed.

"Honestly," she went on, more to herself and to the sea than to Maui, "if anybody was that kind of 'great Chief' of days gone by, it was my Dad. When he got hurt, though, things got even weirder for me, because he's still around…which is amazing, I _definitely_ wouldn't have it any other way, but it's like everyone's looking to him to take over and be the chief they were _really_ expecting and hoping for, and he…doesn't. He doesn't, and that makes everbody kind of annoyed, like, 'well, if Tui hadn't gotten injured, this whole village would be a better place,' right? I don't want Dad to feel weird and guilty about it, so…ugh." She blew out a long, frustrated breath. "Yeah, there are just a lot of expectations, and the marriage thing…that's the worst. It's like they never stop harping on it, like if I got married, settled down, had twenty kids, I'd just sort of magically turn into the person that Motunui has always needed…which doesn't make sense, really, because how could I focus on running the village if I was too busy chasing after children? I'm…honestly, I'm not even sure I really like children. Is that awful? Does it make me a bad person? No, right?"

"Um, no," said Maui. "No, you're not a bad person. You're, uh…you're a pretty great person, actually. I wouldn't worry about it if I were you. Not everybody has to like kids."

 _Oh,_ thought Moana, _so, he is listening after all._ That cheered her up a bit.

"You think so?" She nodded to herself. "Okay, okay, thanks. I'm glad to hear that…and it's not that I even hate kids, it's just, uh…well, children" n are so-"

"Sticky," said Maui simply.

Moana snapped her fingers, nodding enthusiastically.

"YES," she said, excited, "that's exactly it! Kids are sticky! They're always covered in something slimy or squishy or…yuck. It's not weird that I'm not interested in that. Not everybody has to love the idea of being a mother."

Maui just nodded thoughtfully.

Moana smiled, and Maui gave her a half-smile back.

"See," she began, "you really get me. Not a lot of people get me like you do. Maybe that's why it's so nice being with you; you don't have all these crazy expectations of what I have to be like, or what you want me to do, or who you want me to be. You just…get me. I like that. It's…it's really nice. It's such a relief, too."

Maui cleared his throat, took a deep breath, and straightened himself up.

"Moana," he began, much far too seriously. "There's, uh, something I want to tell you."

Moana blinked.

"Oh, um, sorry." She nodded. "Yeah, you mentioned that before, and here I've been rambling on and on, and on…anyway, I'm all ears, now. What did you want to talk about?"

She turned fully to face him, smiled, and prepared to listen. Whatever was bothering him, she decided, she was ready to be as supportive as possible. After all, Maui was going through some difficult changes right now, what with suddenly becoming mortal, and Moana was ready to be there for him, no matter what. They'd been adventurers together, and if anyone could even try to understand what he was going through, then Moana was sure she could be that person. It was the least she could do.

"Moana," mumbled Moana, staring abruptly and directly into her eyes with an intensity that totally took her aback, "I'm…well, listen; you know I'm crazy about you, right?"

Moana had to think about that one for several seconds, and when it finally sunk in, she wasn't sure what to say. Her jaw dropped.

"I…you wh-wh-whaaaaaaat?" She just stared. "What do you mean, c-crazy?"

"I mean," said Maui quickly, "that, uh, you're right. I mean, we get each other, just like you said. We're a great team. We're a good match."

"Match," muttered Moana helplessly, feeling like reality was starting to get away from her.

"You're someone super…special, super different, and it drives me nuts," Maui went on, getting more and more determined as he went, apparently unable to stop now that he'd started down this road to confession. "I've never, ever met anyone like you before, not in thousands upon thousands of years, Moana, and that's insane; it's a big deal. That's…that's incredible, and I don't think I'll ever meet anyone like you again, and…I mean, that's gotta mean something, right?"

"Uh," mumbled Moana, swallowing hard. "Y-yeah, I guess?"

"Yeah," agreed Maui, nodding. "There's some kinda fate, here, I know it, and trust me, I know a lot about fate, and trying to escape it. It's no good. I try not to put too much stock in that stuff, but it's still true. You and I…we 're meant to matter to each other."

Moana chewed on her lip while her head spun gently.

"Right?" Maui was a little desperate too, now, searching Moana's face with his eyes, waiting for some kind of confirmation. "Don't you think we should be…? Uh, you don't look very happy about this. You're not, are you? You're…you're not. Oh."

Moana wasn't sure what she felt, but it definitely wasn't what she'd call 'happy.'

For a long time, they stood and gazed at each other in one of the most awkward silences Moana had ever experienced.

"You, uh, told the ocean," muttered Maui eventually, "that you cared."

"I do care!" Moana heard her voice squeak a little as she said it. "Of course, I care! Why would you think I don't care? I care! I care a lot!"

"Yeah?" Maui looked a bit more hopeful. "Then…"

"It's just…" Moana wasn't sure how to put it. "Maui, I don't…I don't know."

"What? What don't you know?" Maui's eyes had gone wild, and Moana's heart was pounding in her chest. She couldn't figure out if she was excited, scared, thrilled, or some horrifying combination of all of the above.

 _He's crazy about me,_ she thought, hoping that reiterating the point to herself would help the feelings and sensations all begin to make sense, but it didn't. She thought back on everything she knew about love, on how love was supposed to look and feel. Everything she'd heard from the old stories of romance told her that love was supposed to be a passionate, overpowering emotion; something that made your heart flutter and your spirits soar every time you saw or spoke to the person you'd fallen in love with. Love was a breathtaking, extreme sport, sort of like sailing or like flying for the first time; fascinating, exhilarating, endlessly magical.

 _Is that,_ she asked herself, _how I feel about Maui?_

She looked at him, at his strained, hopeful face with a lopsided, uncertain half-smile on it, and she felt…safe. She felt comfortable and careless, but not passionate or fascinated. Maui was a person who understood her, who understood her so well that she didn't even have to think about how well he understood her; they just made sense to each other, and they had a lot of the same stuff inside them…but maybe, just maybe, she wasn't in love with him.

It didn't feel much like love was supposed to feel, she realized. It didn't feel breathless…or at least, it hadn't until a few moments ago. Now, unfortunately, it felt more like panic than like romance.

"What," repeated Maui seriously, "don't you know, Moana?"

"I don't know," she whispered, "how I feel."

Maui's face fell.

He opened his mouth to respond, then shut it again, and took a deep breath.

"Oh," he muttered. "Well, uh…all right, then. If you don't know, then I guess you don't, uh, feel the same way, so…man, I feel like an idiot right now. Been a few hundred years since I last tried to read the signals, and I'm way out of practice. I just thought…nevermind, forget it. I'm sorry."

"You don't have to be sorry." Moana just shook her head.

Maui shrugged. "Okay."

Again, they lapsed into silence, and Moana was deeply sorry, too, although she wasn't sure what exactly she was sorry about. Everything had stopped feeling warm and magical, and now it all felt awful again. She was almost angry, maybe with him, maybe just sort of vaguely angry at the way things had taken a turn for the extremely weird.

"You've…been in love before," she began carefully. "Maui, what does it-?"

"No," interrupted Maui curtly. "I haven't. I don't think so."

"I don't know what it feels like to be in love," Moana explained, intending it to be some kind of lame apology, although even she had to admit that it didn't sound like anything when she heard herself say it.

"Yeah," mumbled Maui, turning away from her. "I know. I heard you the first time."

He looked so genuinely dejected that it tugged painfully at Moana's heartstrings. She reached out, put a hand on his back out of a strong instinct to comfort him, and he jerked away from her.

"I gotta go," he muttered.

"What?" Moana blinked. "Wait, where are you going? I thought you were going to stay in the village. You said you'd stay for my birthday, and I..."

Maui raised an eyebrow at her.

"I want you to stay," mumbled Moana helplessly.

Maui just looked confused.

"I do," Moana insisted quickly, "I want you to stay."

"Make up your mind," sneered Maui. "What do you want? Do you want me here, or-?"

"I care about you," interrupted Moana, "I just…I just don't know if I have, uh… _feelings_. I don't know how to explain it. I never thought-!"

Maui's face shut down.

"Forget it," he said darkly. "I'm done making a fool of myself. It was a long shot anyway. Shouldn't have gotten my hopes up."

"Maui," began Moana.

"Goodbye, Moana." He paused for a moment, then added quietly, "I'm sorry I spoiled the happy ending."

Then, holding his hook above his head, he swung it and transformed himself into a hawk, launching himself from the beach and taking off into the sky before Moana could rally herself to reach out and stop him.

"Please," she whispered, "Maui, please, come back…"

It was already too late. He was too far away to have heard her, even if she'd cried out.

As she watched him disappearing into the distance, she stood alone at the water's edge and felt oddly guilty and betrayed.

Love, she decided, was much more complicated than she'd ever truly understood…and now, at this moment, she hated it with all of her heart.

That felt right, she decided. That was true, something she understood. Love was a mess, and, at this moment, there certainly didn't seem to be anything wonderful or magical about it.

Maybe the storytellers had lied.

* * *

 **Author's End Note:** Poor Maui. He really has come a long way. He's matured a great deal and learned a lot about himself, but I think the combination of losing his immortality and getting rejected was really too much for him, and we're seeing his more childish side coming to the surface again. Stress can bring out the worst in all of us, I suppose. I know it brings out my worst.

I do ask, although I'm sure this part of the story wasn't exactly what you were hoping for, that you please keep your comments polite and courteous. Thank you so much. :)


	30. Epilogue

**Author's Note:** That last chapter was a little weirdly personal for me, maybe more so than I intended.

All right, let's finish strong.

* * *

 **Epilogue**

For a long time after Maui had left, Moana stood by herself on the beach with her feet in the surf, trying to make sense of what had just happened. The ocean, bubbling sympathetically over and around her toes, felt soothing and real, which was refreshing after what had just happened, which Moana still couldn't quite believe _had_ actually happened.

 _Things like this just don't happen to real people,_ she told herself. _I mean, ancient magical demigods don't actually just profess their undying love for real people down on the beach only moments after sacrificing themselves to save the world, and my village, and…and me. I mean, this isn't something I expected to have to handle. I figured the most I'd have to deal with, in terms of men, would be having a crush on someone who didn't like me back, or maybe not being able to find a guy on my island who I didn't play with when we were kids. Nobody told me it was going to get complicated in such a legendary way. I was not prepared._

Then again, she realized, she'd never let herself live what anyone would call a "normal" life. At sixteen, she'd been fighting off monsters on her way to save the world from a terrible darkness. At twenty, she was sneaking around in the realm of the dead, plotting the rescues of gods.

"I have lived a legendary life," she sighed. "People may even write songs and tell stories about me for years to come, all because _you_ decided I was the right person to save the world. Sometimes I'm not sure if I should say thank you."

The ocean swished around her ankles, and Moana raised an eyebrow at it.

"And," she went on, "all of that has gotten me…where?" Glancing over her shoulder, she looked up the path towards her village, where, by now, most people had recovered from the earthquake and were going happily about their daily tasks. Moana could hear her father singing, her mother laughing, probably at something silly or stupid that Pua had done or that one of the village children had said. Everything in Motunui was mundane, everyday, and Moana had a sudden, intense longing to go home and to stay home for good.

"Being a hero," she mumbled, "is…complex."

As she turned back around to face the sea, the ocean chose that moment to spray her directly in the eye.

"Aaah!" Wincing and blinking frantically, Moana wiped her hand across her face. "Hey, what was that for?"

She felt the tattoo of Maui's fish hook against the back of her hand, frowned, and looked out at the horizon, listening despite herself for the cries of a hawk, which she didn't hear.

"So," she asked the ocean, "where do you think he went? Back to that island? No, probably not."

A wave surged out of the water, then collapsed back again, almost as though the ocean was shrugging.

"Yeah," agreed Moana. "I guess it doesn't matter, right? He's probably fine on his own. I should just…I should let him cool off. Maybe we can talk about this when he's feeling a little better. He's kinda been through a lot, lately. Sure, I get that. I can wait."

She said it to reassure herself, really, but Moana remembered the genuine anguish and anger that she'd seen on Maui's face before he'd transformed himself and flown away. She hated the idea that she had been the cause of all those terrible feelings.

"Yeah," she asked herself aloud, "but what else could I have done? I mean…maybe he'll get over it. Maybe once he's over it, he'll come back and we can just…we can just be the way we were, twenty minutes ago, before anybody was in love with anybody else…before everything went totally insane! Yeah…that would be nice."

The ocean made a doubtful sort of burble, but Moana ignored it.

"I hope he comes back," she whispered. "I hope…"

A bird swooped by at that moment, and Moana looked up, assuming, for a thrilling split-second, that it was Maui returning.

It wasn't. As the bird circled once and flew off towards the village again, Moana let out a long, exasperated breath.

"Um," she mumbled, "he…he is going to come back, right?"

The ocean was silent, and so, for a moment, was everything else. Moana felt suddenly lonely; far lonelier than she'd ever felt before, like there was now a dull, empty ache where something important should have been, something she hadn't realized was going to make her hurt until it had gone so unexpectedly missing.

"I hope he doesn't get into any trouble," she said.

The ocean snorted a little bubbling spray of disbelief.

"Yeah," agreed Moana, almost smiling. "Yeah, I know. Wishful thinking, right? He's definitely going to get into trouble. Well…if he needs my help, he knows where to find me."

Moana wondered if Maui would ever need her help again, and, if she came for him, would he be happy to see her? Would he still be angry? Did he even want her help anymore? If she wasn't in love with him, did that mean that what he really needed was…someone else?

She fantasized, for an indulgent moment, about finding him trapped in the clutches of Tangaroa in some secluded sea-cave, and being the only one who'd come for him, or who'd be able to free him. She imagined him being incredibly relieved to see her, telling her he'd missed her, maybe apologizing a few hundred times for being an idiot…and that felt good. It was a nice, pleasant thought that momentarily buoyed her spirits a bit, but in the end, it didn't last. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that what Maui was looking for was someone that she'd already told him she didn't' know how to be.

 _I don't know what it feels like to fall in love,_ she reminded herself. _I'm not a fairytale princess; I don't have it in me. Maybe I'll never know what it's like to be that person. Maybe that means he shouldn't miss me._

Confused, unhappy, and frustrated with herself for being, maybe, too much of a little girl to belong in the world of adventures into which she'd been flung by the sea, Moana turned around and wandered back up the path towards the village.

There were several women gathered in the square together, chatting as they husked the coconuts. Moana's Mom caught sight of her and waved, and Moana waved absent-mindedly back.

If Mom noticed that Maui was missing, she didn't say anything. She would probably, thought Moana, say something later, and Moana was going to have to figure out how she wanted to answer all the questions that she'd inevitably get from her parents when they figured out that their honored guest had taken off without warning.

There was still part of a pile of nets and ropes leaning against the side of Moana's house, the same pile from which she'd taken the ropes that she'd used to build her first flight harness only a couple of days ago.

Moana remembered flying, remembered falling through the air out over the waters of Rarohenga, and she reflected philosophically that Maui's being in love with her felt sort of like falling, possibly to your death, off the back of an in-flight hawk. It was terrible, unexpected, rushed, extreme, out of control, and definitely something she'd never voluntarily do again…but it was also just exciting enough that she couldn't quite get it out of her head.

 _Moana, you know I'm crazy about you,_ he'd said, which gave her a weird little shivery chill every time she listened to it playing in her head.

"Moana!"

Across the square, Moana could hear her father calling for her.

With a sigh and one last rueful look at the pile of ropes, Moana hurried off to join him, relieved for the first time in her life that whatever was about to happen couldn't possibly surprise her.

* * *

 **Author's End Note:** Well, we've reached the end of one journey, dear readers, and we've arrived safe and sound back in Motunui. I'm not going to play coy with you; yes, I do fully intend to write a sequel. Obviously, there is still a lot of room for things between characters to be resolved or at least revisited.

I am curious to hear from you; what would you be interested in seeing in a sequel? Are there any characters you'd like to see more of, or particularly interesting Maori myths you'd like me to bring in? I absolutely don't promise that I'll take those suggestions, but I'd be very interested to hear your thoughts. I do have a pretty good idea of what sort of shape I want the next part of the story to take, but you guys always inspire me, and that's magnificent.

Either way, thank you so much for reading, and goodnight!


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